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Quote of the day: 'Innovation without trust is liability,' says Ashwini Vaishnaw as he lags deepfakes at AI Summit 2026
Ashwini Vaishnaw said there is a need for global technical and legal solutions and that India is in talks with 30 countries in this regard.
Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw on Monday flagged the “darker side” of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and called for an international collaboration on the misuse of AI.
The minister was speaking on the crisis around the spread of "persistent disinformation, misinformation and deepfakes" at the India AI Impact Summit, underway in New Delhi.
"Innovation without trust is a liability," Vaishnaw said, adding that the government is working on strict regulations to mandate watermarking and labelling of AI-generated content to protect "authenticity" of human creativity.
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Speaking on the challenges of disinformation and deepfakes, the minister said there is a need for global technical and legal solutions and that India is in talks with 30 countries in this regard. He also called for "non-negotiable" actions against menace like deepfake and data breach, which are affecting the entire society and the country.
"Misinformation, Disinformation, deepfakes, they are attacking the foundation of society," Vaishnaw said in response to a question around how national security and safety will be ensured amid spread of misinformation and deepfakes.
"It is attacking the trust between the institutions of family, of social identities, of governance. It is striking at the root of these institutions and trust. The social media platforms the AI Models and creators all of us will have to take the responsibilty in making sure that new technology strengthen the trust rather than betlitting it and creating break up of instiutions without break up," he added.
He said the freedom of speech relies on trust and it must be protected.
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"When you mention the OTT world. My request is that in the digital world, there are no physical boundaries people forget cultural context. So global platforms must ensure the cultural context and it should be based on the country it's being watched rather than on the parent company," he said.
Vaishnaw also called for a balance between IT and innovation.
"It requires lots of technical tools to be created. We need technical guardrails and technical features in the AI. We are very close to the industry to find these technologies," the minister said.
Vaishnaw on AI and jobs
On the concerns around AI replacing jobs, Vaishnaw said that the AI should not be a diluting effect but complementing effect in our lives.
He said that the talent pipeline being created in India is very high and the government is soon launching Create in India mission.
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"We are very soon launching Create in India Mission in line with the Semiconductor Mission. We create future ready talent pipeline to meet our upcoming requirements for the next 25 years," he said.
"There should not be a diluting effect but complementing effect of AI into our lives. Many of the developed countries are looking at it as the benchmark," he added.
He added that technology and creativity are going simultaneously and they are both for industrial world and creative world.
