GPAI 2023 begins in New Delhi from tomorrow

The Global Partnership on AI (GPAI) is a multi-stakeholder initiative which aims to bridge the gap between theory and practice on AI by supporting cutting-edge research and applied activities on AI-related priorities.

Launched in June 2020 with 15 members, GPAI is the fruition of an idea developed within the G7. Today, GPAI’s 29 members are Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, the Republic of Korea, Senegal, Serbia, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the European Union.

GPAI has a Council and a Steering Committee, supported by a Secretariat hosted by the OECD, and two Centres of Expertise: one in Montreal (CEIMIA, the International Centre of Expertise in Montreal for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence) and one in Paris (at INRIA, the French National Institute for Research in Digital Science and Technology). Currently, GPAI has four working groups on the themes of Responsible AI, Data Governance, the Future of Work, and Innovation and Commercialization.

India is a founding member of GPAI, having joined the multi-stakeholder initiative on June 15, 2020.

The third Annual GPAI Summit was held in Tokyo, Japan, on the 21st and 22nd of November, 2022. This two-day summit saw participation from senior government leaders from 24 Countries and AI leaders from the India, European Union (EU), OECD, and UNDP. The summit also saw in-person ministerial representation from over 6 nations. Further, over 100 diverse AI experts from Industry, Civil Society, Academia, Trade Unions, etc., also joined to discuss key AI issues during the summit.

In November 2022, India received more than two-thirds of first preference votes and was elected as the Incoming Council Chair of GPAI. India is serving as the Incoming Support Chair in 2022-23. India is taking over as Lead Chair on 12 December 2023 for 2023-24 and will serve as Outgoing Support Chair in 2024-25. As Lead Chair, India is hosting the annual GPAI Summit a three-day event from 12^th to 14^th December 2023 to convene all 29 GPAI members to discuss matters related to AI.

In addition to the official GPAI events, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Government of India, is organizing multiple side-events including the AI Game Changers Award for Startups, Global AI Expo with more than 150 Startups and AI solutions, Research Symposium in partnership with IIT Madras, Workshops and  Roundtable discussion on key issues related to AI Innovation, Governance and Regulation. In addition UK will be organizing a session as a follow up of the discussions at UK AI Safety Summit. Shri Amandeep Gill, Tech Envoy to UN Secretary General will be leading a session with the members of the UN Advisory Group on AI. The events will be centered around AI-related priorities including healthcare, accessibility, skilling, governance, data, and global collaboration among others.

Youth for Unnati and Vikas with AI (YUVAi) program, a joint program of MeitY and Intel, has been fostering a deeper understanding of AI, equipping school students from classes 8 to 12 across the nation with relevant mindset and skill sets and empowering them to become human-centric designers and users of AI. Intel will have the YuvaAI Award winning students from across the world showcase their solutions in it’s pavilion. Winners of Global Impact Festival – students from Brazil, Poland, Malaysia, Thailand and Costa Rica will also be showcasing their solutions.

In the GPAI Summit 2023, delegations of 28 member countries and European Union including 5 Ministerial delegations (Canada, France, Japan, Turkiye, UK) are participating.

In addition to above, 67 GPAI Experts and more than 120 industry leaders and experts are participating in the Summit.

The flagship initiatives of the Summit are as follows:

• Research Symposium: Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), in collaboration with the Centre for Responsible AI (CeRAI), IIT Madras is organising a Research Symposium as part of the Annual GPAI Summit in New Delhi. The Symposium, under the theme Responsible AI in Public-Sector Applications, is intended to provide a platform for Indian and International academics and researchers to collaborate with other AI experts and present their actionable research on Responsible AI in front of a global audience. Over 150 abstracts have been received from 38 countries and 11 submissions have been selected for a paper presentation during the GPAI Summit. This session will also include Technical Talks from global AI experts such as:

• Dr. Gisele Waters, Working Group Chair, Developing P3119 Standard on Artificial Intelligence Procurement, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
• Dr. Shyam Sundaram, Chief – Business Ontology & Knowledge Engineering, Bajaj Finserv.
• Dr. Ramayya Krishnan, Dean, Heinz College of Information Systems And Public Policy, Carnegie Mellon University.
• Professor Arun Sundararajan, Harold Price Professor, Entrepreneurship and Professor of Technology, New York University.

• AI Gamechangers Award: The AI Gamechangers Award aims to recognize and celebrate impactful AI solutions that are driving responsible AI innovation across two categories of awards – AI in Governance Leader Award and the NextGen Leaders Award. Shortlisted participants will get to attend the Summit and pitch their solutions to a jury of global AI experts, industry representatives etc. Three winners will be selected from each of the two categories of Awards after the jury evaluation and announced in the Awards Ceremony during the Annual GPAI Summit, 2023. The Call for Applications was floated till 15^th November 2023 to seek participation from domestic and global AI startups. Around 150 applications were received and 10 have been selected for pitching during the GPAI Summit.

• IndiaAI Expo: As part of the GPAI Summit, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology is organizing a Global AI Expo. The Expo will feature organizations (educational institutions, companies, start-ups, MSMEs) who are at the forefront of AI innovation and have technologies that have a potential to benefit society and address critical global challenges. The exhibition will be visited by global audience of industry leaders, policymakers, thought leaders, domain experts, fellow innovators and institutions, start-ups, and other stakeholders from 28 countries and EU.

The AI Expo is centered around the following themes/sectors:

• Agriculture, Food, Health, Water Resources, Environment and Pollution, Education, Culture, Transportation, Highways and Waterways, Railways, Energy, Public Safety, Disaster Management, Legal, Finance, Governance and Cyber-Security.

There is a space for 100 built-up stalls (in 7 clusters), 12 pavilions of 100 sq mts each and 6 pavilions of 50 sq mts each. 261 applications were received for built-up stalls and 48 applications were received for raw pavilions. There will be around 18 pavilions where organizations like Reliance Jio, Paytm, Intel, AWS, Meta, Microsoft and Google will participate. Meta and AWS will showcase more than 20 start-ups in their ecosystem within their pavilions. Youth for Unnati and Vikas with AI (YUVAi) program, a joint program of MeitY and Intel, has been fostering a deeper understanding of AI, equipping school students from classes 8 to 12 across the nation with relevant mindset and skill sets and empowering them to become human-centric designers and users of AI. Intel will have the YuvaAI Award winning students from across the world showcase their solutions in it’s pavilion.

• Pitch Fest: The AI Pitch Fest is conceptualized to harness the platform provided by the Annual GPAI Summit towards promoting financial sustainability and support for GPAI’s most impactful projects, advancing the idea of Safe and Secure AI for all. The Pitch Fest will provide an opportunity for GPAI experts to present their ongoing projects to prominent donor organizations with a view to exploring opportunities for collaboration as well as support. The event will act as a bridge between GPAI projects and organizations actively looking to support impactful Responsible AI work.

In addition to above flagship initiatives, a session on follow up on AI Safety Summit is also being organised by Government of UK. This session will provide an overview of the outcomes of the UK Safety Summit at Bletchley Park. An Innovation Workshop was organised in Montreal, Canada by GPAI Expert Centres CEIMIA (Montreal based) and INRIA (Paris based). A session on Innovation Workshop knowledge sharing by CEIMIA and INRIA will also be organised. This session will present the key outcomes from the Montreal GPAI Innovation Workshop and discuss the way forward.

In addition, around 19 sessions will also be organised on various aspects of Artificial Intelligence. These side events are classified into four categories and are closely aligned with GPAI’s priorities and working groups. As outlined below, these events cover various aspects integral to guide responsible development, use and adoption of AI and facilitate international collaboration on AI.

1. AI as Catalyst of Growth: Kinetic Enabler for the Digital Economy

The following side events cover avenues where AI is being utilised to enable social transformation and address global challenges, including healthcare, accessibility, climate change, DPIs, sustainable agriculture among others:

1. AI and Global Health – Role of AI in advancing Healthcare

The session seeks to explore the growing use of Artificial Intelligence enabled systems in the field of healthcare, through a panel discussion. Discussion will span topics of role of AI in Universal Health Coverage, workflow in healthcare operations, diagnostics, and drug discovery, AI-assistance for healthcare professionals, ethical aspects of deploying AI in healthcare, challenges faced by countries, and public-private synergies.

2. AI and Sustainable Agriculture: Towards Global Food Security

The session aims to identify opportunities for leveraging AI innovations for sustainable agriculture in the Global South by discussing case studies and examples of successful AI deployment models. It will also examine the challenges of deploying AI for sustainable agriculture and explore policy issues that are critical to catalysing the use of AI innovation for sustainable agriculture.

3. AI for Climate Action: Accelerating Sustainable Solutions

The session will focus on building localized knowledge about the opportunities, challenges, and risks of the intersection of AI and climate change that resonates with the priorities and concerns of countries in the Global South.

The discussion will leverage the collective expertise to add value to GPAI deliberations and open the forum to a geographically and professionally diverse group of experts.

4. Building Scalable Large Language Models (LLMs)

The session is about learning and sharing knowledge on Large Language Models (LLMs) and Natural Language Processing (NLP). The aim is to deepen understanding through research and industry insights while encouraging networking and professional growth in the LLM and NLP sectors. It will cover various aspects like multilingual support and bias reduction, with discussions on ethical use and the creation of specific models for different countries.

5. AI and Governance: The next Techade of DPIs

The session will bring together key stakeholders to discuss approaches to building inclusive and advanced DPIs over the next 10 years.

The objectives of the session include:

• Recognize the pivotal role of international collaboration in AI democratization
• Address challenges related to data ownership, governance, and the concomitant opportunities for development and adoption of DPI tools for accelerating AI adoption and development.
• Discussing the role of technological advances, particularly in AI/ML technologies, in shaping the next generation of Digital Public Infrastructure.

6. AI for All – Bridging the Global AI Divide

The session will focus on building localized knowledge about the opportunities, challenges, and risks of the intersection of AI and climate change that resonates with the priorities and concerns of countries in the Global South.

The discussion will leverage the collective expertise to add value to GPAI deliberations and open the forum to a geographically and professionally diverse group of experts.

Discuss creation of a global repository of open-source AI resources, ensuring affordable and inclusive technological responses to climate change.

7. Applied AI Research and Indigenous Innovations

The objective of the session is to provide an overview of the latest trends and developments in AI research, showcase a diverse range of AI applications, and discuss the social and ethical implications of AI. The session also aims to encourage dialogue and collaboration between AI researchers and practitioners.

8. Applications of AI in Priority Sectors

The session will focus on challenges and opportunities in adoption of AI by industry towards enhancing competitiveness, market potential of AI and its uptake across industries.

Objectives of the session are:

• Establish comprehensive understanding of AI’s current penetration across essential sectors like education, security, finance, healthcare, etc.
• Highlight the successful case studies of AI adoption in industry and its value growth across the globe.

9. Productization and Scaling-up of AI Solutions

The session will focus on multifaceted implications of AI and dimensions such as impact on innovation, SME adoption and commercial practices between businesses. Identify mechanisms to cultivate strategic partnerships between businesses in the AI value chain to explore solutions for future proofing trade and commerce, commercial best-practices, tailored to cater both global and local needs.

10. Neurotechnologies and AI

The session will facilitate a Roundtable/Panel discussion on UNESCO report on AI and neurotechnology. The session will bring together experts to engage in a meaningful dialogue about the implications, findings, and recommendations outlined in the report.

11. AI and Intellectual Property: Protecting Innovations

The session will focus on expanding the concepts mentioned in the IP Primer released by GPAI’s Working Group on Innovation and Commercialization.

This session will address the IP protection of various constituents of AI systems, namely – Hardware, AI algorithms, Software in which Algorithm is embedded, Training Datasets and Outcome.

The session will also seek to identify avenues where current IP laws are silent or may require modification to address challenges of Generative AI.

2. Safe and Trusted AI: Global Framework for Regulating AI

The side events mentioned below cover various aspects of Safe, trusted, accountable and Responsible use of AI where global convergence is critical, including Generative AI, AI governance principles, ethical guidelines along with actionable frameworks for implementing Responsible use of AI:

1. International AI Regulations: Catalysing Innovation while ensuring Safety, Trust and Accountability

The objective of the session is to distill insights that can contribute to fostering a harmonized AI landscape characterized by growth, responsibility, and shared aspirations. The key objectives will include:

• Enhancing international collaboration among GPAI nations to share best-practices, insights, and strategies for AI governance and regulations.
• Discussing the advantages and challenges of both sector-specific (sectoral) and overarching (horizontal) AI governance.

2. Safe and Trustworthy AI: Adopting Robustness and Security in AI Systems

The session will discuss various issues relating to safe, secure and trustworthy AI. The session seeks to identify key threats, challenges and opportunities that industry and governments face. It will bring together key stakeholders to share their ideas.

3. Mitigating social risks for a safe and resilient society

• As the world approaches an AI-driven future, ongoing discussions about Responsible AI are crucial. In this context, the session has the following objectives:
• Develop initial guidance on the safe, secure and responsible use of generative AI;
• Address global imperatives while also addressing region-specific challenges, especially those faced by developing nations;
• Prioritize development and endorsement of technical standards that ensure responsible and effective AI utilization.

4. Generative AI: Issues and Challenges

This session will give a broad overview of Generative AI and its potential to revolutionize various sectors. The session will also address several concerns with this technology such as ethical deployment, disinformation, privacy concerns, data governance, and potential biases.

5. Future of Global Governance on AI: Perspectives from UN High-Level Advisory Body on AI

This side event aims to convene various members of the High-Level Advisory body on AI to deliberate on the future of global cooperation and governance of AI and how various existing initiatives may converge towards ensuring a unified approach towards advancing Trustworthy AI.

3. AI Challenges: Impact of AI on the Future of Work & Talent

The side event mentioned below highlights the significant challenge of talent gap in the global AI innovation ecosystem and will focus on proposing approaches to re-define future of work:

1. AI Education and Skilling: Bridging the Talent Gap

The session will focus on multifaceted implications of AI and dimensions such as impact on innovation, SME adoption and commercial practices between businesses. Identify mechanisms to cultivate strategic partnerships between businesses in the AI value chain to explore solutions for future proofing trade and commerce, commercial best-practices, tailored to cater both global and local needs.

4. Enabling AI Growth: Datasets, Compute and Global Partnerships

The following side events cover foundational elements of AI innovation including responsible access to datasets and equitable distribution of resources, like compute and physical infrastructure to enable global adoption of AI:

1. Harnessing the Power of Data Responsibly

The session will discuss the importance of ensuring data used in AI models is reliable and secure, aligning with organizational values to mitigate bias and risks. It will also touch upon AI ethics and address concerns about personal data handling, social media censorship, and demonstrating the insufficiency of existing laws through real-world examples.

2. Collaborative AI for Global Partnership (CAIGP) – Global Cooperation for Equitable AI

The session aims to catalyze discourse around the need to join efforts across countries and organizations towards making the AI innovation ecosystem more inclusive.

The objectives of the event include:

• Identifying how to collectively align and harmonize efforts towards building the future of AI through a multistakeholder approach towards AI research and innovation.
• Exploring the role of large industry players, including AI compute providers in driving inclusivity across the AI ecosystem.

The GPAI Experts in association with GPAI Expert Support Centres (CEIMIA and INRIA) are also organising 9 side session on various project undertaken in four Working Groups of GPAI (Responsible AI, Data Governance, Innovation & Commercialisation and Future of Work).

A mobile App “Bharat Mandapam” has been developed and available on both Playstore (for Android) and AppStore (for iOS) to provide details about the venue, agenda and other tourist places in New Delhi. This app is a contribution from MeitY to ITPO which can be used for future events at Bharat Mandapam.

MeitY has also developed a Chat Bot which has been integrated with the GPAI Delhi Summit website. Any delegate can ask questions related to Summit such as venue, agenda, meeting rooms etc. at this Chat Bot. This is available on the website – gpaidelhi2023.in. More than 9000 people have registered for the event.

The event will be held in hybrid mode and will also be available on a specially created virtual platform live.negd.in