The artificial intelligence (AI) ecosystem must be free of bias, and facial recognition technology cannot exhibit bias on the basis of colour or ethnicity, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology said. Prasad also prescribed a set of principles, or standards, that are necessary for the empowerment of Indian citizens and the development of the AI ecosystem in the country. Prasad was speaking at the event all.ai, organised by Intel. The four-day event, which was inaugurated on Monday, will feature discussions on the applications of artificial intelligence in various areas such as healthcare, education and governance. Telangana IT Secretary Jayesh Ranjan inaugurated an applied AI research centre INAI, a partnership between Intel, IIIT-Hyderabad, PHFI and the Government of Telangana. Prasad noted the need for transparency in algorithms. He argued that users of an algorithm should have all the necessary information at hand. He also argued for the citizens' right to privacy, and how data must not be collected without their consent. Free of bias: Prasad said that the internet is a global platform that had truly brought meaningful change in the citizens' lives. However, this global platform must not discount its local connect. "The global and local must be in sync," he said. The minister was arguing that while AI had a great potential for applications in facial recognition technology, it had to take into account the data of local citizens. "The facial recognition process cannot show any bias of colour or ethnicity," he said . Trustworthy…
