French-India tango over the future of AI
Paris AI Action Summit aims to establish sustainable AI solutions, co-chaired by France and India, addressing ethics, accessibility, and environmental impact.
The Artificial Intelligence (AI) Action Summit that began in Paris on Monday is only the third of its kind, the first having been held in November 2023 in the United Kingdom and the second in May 2024 in South Korea. The Paris Summit aims to collectively establish scientific foundations, solutions and standards for more sustainable AI working for collective progress and in the public interest. Co-chaired with India, the event builds on the advances made at the Bletchley Park Summit in November 2023 and the Seoul Summit in May 2024 and will draw on the expertise of a steering committee bringing together some 30 countries and international institutions to ensure inclusive and diverse contributions.
The fact that the AI Action Summit is co-chaired by France and India assures the presence of Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi by the side of French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris. The joint presence of France and India is more than just symbolic. When the French President was in India as the chief guest for the Republic Day celebrations in January 2024, the two leaders had a chance to discuss AI in their bilateral talks. Recognising the evolving landscape of technology, both leaders underlined the imperative for effective multi-stakeholder collaboration to ensure the development of safe, secure and trustworthy AI. There is thus a joint Franco-Indian commitment to enhance Collaborative AI for Global Partnership to promote equitable access to critical AI resources.
The Paris AI Summit is expected to come up with the following deliverables: One, the creation of an AI foundation to equip developing countries with open-source AI tools based on less powerful AI systems, funded to the tune of 2.5 billion euros over five years. Two, the presentation of 35 “convergence challenges” showcases the impact of current AI systems in sectors such as health care and climate change adaptation. Three, a multilateral agreement on the environmental impact of this technology is expected to be signed at the end of the Summit. Fourth, the completed International AI Safety Report: 100 independent AI experts from around the world have released the first-ever International AI Safety Report, and it is expected to be presented in Paris. Backed by 30 countries and the OECD, UN, and EU, the report summarises the state of the science on AI capabilities and risks, and how to mitigate those risks. It will help to further a common understanding of the risks posed by general purpose AI systems.
The Paris Summit could not have come at a better time. It takes place against the backdrop of the storm unleashed by DeepSeek and at a time when regulators the world over are struggling to cope with dramatic developments that are unfolding in the field.
Three fundamental issues relating to AI have come into sharp focus. The first is open-source versus closed-source AI. Open Source AI refers to systems where the code is freely accessible to the public. This transparency allows anyone to examine, modify, and contribute to the software, fostering collaboration and collective progress. Closed Source AI, on the other hand, keeps the code proprietary, only accessible to the developers or the company that created it. This restricts outside access or modification, giving the company full control over the software’s development. These differing levels of access and control define much of the current strategies within the tech industry.
The second issue surrounds the ethics of AI. Ethics may have to do with algorithmic bias, discrimination in AI applications, consent over data, surveillance and monitoring (invasion of privacy) and finally, legal accountability. A basic question is how to fix ethical responsibility for AI.
The third issue is that behind the brilliance of AI lies an energy-intensive process with a staggering carbon footprint. As datasets and models become more complex, the energy needed to train and run AI models becomes enormous. This increase in energy use directly affects greenhouse gas emissions, aggravating climate crisis. According to Open AI researchers, since 2012, the amount of computing power required to train cutting-edge AI models has doubled every three months.
By 2040, it is expected that the emissions from the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) industry will reach 14% of the global emissions, with a majority of those emissions coming from the ICT infrastructure, particularly data centres and communication networks.
These data demonstrate the urgent need to address AI’s carbon footprint and its role in environmental deterioration.
France and India are well-positioned to tackle the above challenges. First, they are both on the same page when it comes to ensuring democratic access to AI, working for ethical AI, and ensuring a low-carbon pathway to its future development.
France and India are uniquely placed to promote high-tech and AI as a force for global good. The key question is whether it is possible to develop a trustworthy AI. France is a developed country that has many innovations to its credit. India, while a developing country, has demonstrated through its digital stack that it can develop and absorb the latest in high tech. The Paris AI Action Summit, co-chaired by French President Macron and PM Modi, may well turn out to be seminal in its impact.
Mohan Kumar is former Indian ambassador to France and is currently dean atOP Jindal Global University. The views expressed are personal