Ahead of Lok Sabha polls, ECI seeks OpenAI's advice on combating AI in elections
Executives from OpenAI met with the officials of Election Commission of India to discuss ways to combat AI misuse during polling process.
The general elections in India are set to take place in April-May of this year, and the Election Commission of India is making preparations for the smooth conduct of the polling process. To ensure that artificial intelligence doesn't hamper the polling process, ECI officials recently conducting a meeting with the executives from OpenAI, the company that created ChatGPT, The Hindu reported first.
ChatGPT-maker OpenAI prepared a presentation for the Election Commission of India for the meeting that took place last month. Executives of the company advised the ECI on how to steer clear of any misuse of AI during the polling process.
During the meeting, OpenAI executives informed the polling body about steps to be taken by big tech companies and central bodies to make sure that the advancements in artificial intelligence are not misused during the high-stakes Lok Sabha elections.
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This comes as many global tech companies are putting up their defences to combat the misuse of artificial intelligence with as many as 25 countries holding their general elections this year, including India, US and UK.
Companies like OpenAI, Meta, Microsoft and Google signed a pledge last month to fight AI content that can be deemed misleading during the polls. Notably, these are also the companies that have made the heftiest investments in artificial intelligence over the last few years, aiming for its quick advancement.
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Tech giants like OpenAI promised to make sure to counter harmful content during the polling season, such as watermarks on important documents that are undetected by the human eye but can be read by machines.
The AI security deal was signed on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference in Germany last month, which was attended by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. Some other companies that signed this deal were X, TikTok, Snap, Linkedin, Amazon and IBM.
The Lok Sabha elections in India are set to be conducted in April-May of 2024, while the dates have not been announced yet. It is expected that the polling body will release the schedule for the elections later this month.
