India must be prepared to face upheavals due to artificial intelligence: Rajnath Singh

India must work on the artificial intelligence mechanism "extremely carefully" and be prepared to face the legal, ethical, political and economic upheavals that may follow from the technology, Defense Minister Rajnath Singh said on Monday.

"We must use artificial intelligence (AI) for human progress and peace. It should not happen that some country or group of countries asserts its dominance on this technology - just like nuclear energy - and the rest of the countries cannot enjoy the fruits of this technology," he mentioned.

Mr Singh was speaking after inaugurating an event here titled 'AIDef (Artificial Intelligence in Defence)'.

He noted that the ethics and dangers of AI need to be properly thought out.

"We can't stop the progress of artificial intelligence and we shouldn't try to stop it. But we have to be careful about it," he mentioned.

When a new technology brings a huge change, its transition period is just as big and serious, he said.

"Since AI is a technology that can bring about massive change, we must be prepared to face the legal, ethical, political and economic upheavals that may follow," noted Singh.

"We have to work extremely carefully on AI so that it (technology) does not get out of our control in the coming times," he added.

The Defense Minister further said that the advent of technology is like the movement of a clock because once it moves forward, it cannot be turned back.

"Whenever a new technology comes, society takes time to adapt to it," he added.

He also said that the country should ensure democratic use of technology.

The defense sector is undergoing important changes due to AI. The training of soldiers using AI is also improving, he mentioned.

Mr. Singh launched 75 AI powered defense products at the event.

Of these 75 products, some are already in use by the armed forces, while others are in the process of being introduced.

The 75 products fall into the fields of robotics, cyber security, human behavior analytics, intelligent monitoring system, supply chain management, voice analytics and C4ISR (command, control, communications, computer and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance) and operational data analytics. .