Delhi High Court Seeks Centre's Stand On PIL Against Non-Regulation Of Artificial Intelligence And Deepfake Technologies

The Delhi High Court on Monday sought stand of the Central Government on a public interest litigation against the non-regulation of Artificial Intelligence and deepfake technologies in India.

A division bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Mini Pushkarna granted time to Central Government's counsel Apoorv Kurup to obtain instructions in the matter.

The case will now be heard on January 08, 2024.

The petition has been moved by Advocate Chaitanya Rohilla and filed through Advocate Manohar Lal.

The plea seeks a direction on the Union Government to identify and block websites providing access to deepfakes and AI and also to lay down guidelines for regulation of the same.

It also seeks a direction to ensure fair implementation of AI and for issuing guidelines for AI and deepfake access, in strict accordance with the fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution of India.

During the hearing today, Acting Chief Justice Manmohan said that AI and deepfakes are difficult areas to deal with.

“There is no answer to technology, no? These are difficult areas to deal with. One has to understand the importance of technology. It is also helpful in certain aspects….,” the court said.

The Central Government's counsel responded that the issue raised in the PIL is in the realm of law making and that the government is already addressing the sane.

The court then observed that the issue requires a solution which balances all conflicting interests, which involves a lot of deliberations.

The issues raised in the PIL include defining AI, risks associated with AI systems, the deceptive nature of deepfakes and the intersection of AI with personal data protection.

Title: Chaitanya Rohilla v. Union of India