The tech giant conducted an A.I. risk perceptions study which found malicious use and job displacement from A.I. as the greatest risks while research discoveries and health advancements will be the most beneficial applications of A.I. in the coming years, according to the study conducted in 5 countries including India, the U.S., U.K., Japan, and Taiwan. 

Indian policymakers specialised in artificial intelligence (A.I.), who were surveyed by tech giant OpenAI on AI risk perceptions broadly said that threats to education from A.I. are a uniquely high area of concern in India compared to other countries. However, experts within government, industry, and academia told The Hindu that they disagreed with many findings of the OpenAI risk perceptions study. They said that A.I. threats to education are overblown, misplaced, and failed to recognise that the benefits greatly outweigh the dangers in India. 

OpenAI’s private research conducted between September to December of 2023 through surveys and expert interviews with a few dozen policymakers in five countries found that “Education risks (e.g., students over-relying on AI tools at the expense of critical thinking skills), were viewed as least risky,” but “India is a notable exception: Indian respondents ranked risks to education as the fifth priority area of concern, greater than geopolitical risks or the alignment problem.”

No explanation was given in the OpenAI study for why Indian policymakers found A.I. in education risks to be of particularly high concern. OpenAI did not respond to multiple requests for comment for this article.

The OpenAI study, which The Hindu exclusively obtained, focused on four broad categories: benefits and risks from A.I., pace of A.I. development, AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) and existential risks, and A.I. risk management. The study implicitly focused on cutting edge generative A.I. use cases such as A.I. tools that generate new text, images, videos etc rather than broad uses of artificial intelligence which have existed for many years.

OpenAI, the largest and most popular generative A.I. company in the world, found in the study that the greatest dangers from the technology came from “ ‘A.I. misuse/malicious use’ by bad actors and ‘economic risks’ (like job displacement due to automation),” according to policymakers surveyed in five different countries: India, Japan, Taiwan, U.K., and the U.S. 

On the other hand, OpenAI’s risk perceptions study, which was not released publicly, found that “advanced research and discovery and health advancements,” were identified by survey respondents from all countries as the most beneficial applications of A.I. over the next five years.

OpenAI’s private study surveyed 47 policy officials including those within the Indian government, civil society, and A.I. scholars, with a focus on career officials within the Ministries along with the non-governmental entities in India.

Advitiya Sharma, chief growth officer of leading EdTech company Schoolnet, disagreed with parts of the OpenAI study findings, highlighting the fundamental issue with generative A.I. use in particular within education in India is the lack of understanding and awareness which creates a lack of confidence and overstates the problems associated with the technology. 

We’ve already worked with tens of thousands of teachers and students who have used A.I. in their schools and the benefits outweigh the risks or dangers that exist,” said Sharma who is a serial entrepreneur who previously co-founded Housing.com and founded Genius Teachers, a quiz-based e-learning platform.

“For example, if a student gets stuck on a problem or has a complicated question, they can turn to an A.I. chatbot that gives outputs similar to that of Einstein or other world-renowned thinkers. We have such an A.I. application currently in an early beta stage of testing but has been rolled out with some success in a few Jharkhand government schools and of course the more users and the more data you feed the technology, the better it gets.”

Source:thehindu.in

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