AI is everywhere these days. And its importance is predicted to grow exponentially in the coming time. It wouldn't be wrong to state that AI is just at a neonatal stage. What shape it will take in the future is yet to be seen. Technology companies have already deployed to carry out tasks such as drafting papers, analyzing medical reports, making art, and driving cars. While all these are important in their own way, there is one field where AI has extraordinary potential, and that is Governance.
Governance refers to the process by which institutions, governments, or organizations manage public resources, enforce rules, and make decisions to address collective societal needs. It encompasses the mechanisms, procedures, and institutions through which authority is exercised, policies are set, and accountability is maintained. Governance is one field where, traditionally, slow moving bureaucracy is involved. Bureaucracy consists of series of steps, which involves many groups of people, doing different tasks. For various reasons, these groups do the work without much coordination, which results in wastage of time, money and manpower. AI promises to change this for the better. However, just as it is important to shape a neonate in order for it to grow well, it is important that the foundation of utilizing AI in the governance is shaped well for it to evolve correctly.
There are many concerns that people have regarding the use of AI, like accuracy, bias, employment, Eliza Effect etc. While all these concerns deserve to be analyzed separately in detail, the most important concern presently is that of privacy.
AI is fast becoming indispensable to us due to its efficiency in producing results. What used to take months and years, can now be done by AI in minutes. While the quality of the results might not be as very good today, it is getting better with every new model. AI aggregates the data and metadata and produces coherent results. The question is how are the AI models getting all the data?
Companies like OpenAI and Google tend to argue that these data are publicly available data and the content uploaded by users voluntarily which is being used to train the models. However, it is no secret that data does get sold and purchased unethically. Even if the data has been made public, the use of it might be limited to educational purposes or for specific audience. It is quite possible that the models get trained on these contents which violates the copyright. Recently, the art style of Hayao Miyazaki went viral because 4o Model of ChatGPT had become excellent at copying the style and converting real-life images into the Miyazaki style. Miyazaki painstakingly developed his technique and honed it for decades before it became popular. And here came OpenAI which plagiarized the technique. This episode should make one thing clear. These companies exist for their own profit and not for charity. Furthermore, there have been concerns that the personal pictures of the users shall now be used to train the AI as these pictures have been uploaded voluntarily. In fact, OpenAI started and grew as a non-profit, but later transitioned into a "capped-profit" structure.
Moreover, in today's digital age, leakage of data and hacking of devices is commonplace. If the AI models have access to all the publicly available data, and the leaked data is publicly available, does it not mean that this data is somewhere in the database of AI models? And if this unethically obtained data is copied by anyone, which it most certainly does, and this data is made available to the public, then it would be naive to expect that this data shall not be read into the AI algorithms.
It is not that similar concerns were not present before. Earlier, people used to sell and buy data, but AI has ensured that the threshold of this data getting misused has fallen and probability of exploitation has increased manifold.
Even if some content gets deleted by the user, it does not really disappear. Nothing that has been uploaded over the internet actually gets deleted. There are numerous websites that store the exact state of all the websites at all given times. Thus, if one had made a post on social media five years back, and deleted it three years back, it can still be retrieved today.
Governments around the world are eager to leverage the power of AI in communication and governance today, and they have started using it also. Just a few months back, the Indian Prime Minister appeared on a podcast. This podcast is available in English, Hindi and Russian, all done using AI. This is only rudimentary use of AI. Before the AI becomes part and parcel of governance, it is crucial that we stop and 'force' the AI to have ethical DNA since it will be very difficult to course correct when AI has become fully integrated in governance.
Let us see some of the ways AI can and will be used in governance and how privacy becomes even more relevant.
- Administration of Justice
Police can use AI models analyse historical crime data, demographic information, and environmental factors to identify crime hotspots and predict future criminal activity. Investigation can also become efficient as the AI can scavenge the data present online and present a more holistic report. Courts can also use AI to do better research, and have the documents, including judgements, be translated into various languages.
Privacy Concerns: Since FIR and investigation involves information of the victim, accused and the witnesses, using such information may lead to misuse of their personal information.
- Logistics and Transport
AI algorithms can analyse traffic patterns, weather, and road conditions to determine the most efficient routes. Driverless cars can reduce labour costs and human error. AI-driven robots can handle sorting, packaging, and inventory management.
Privacy Concerns: Sensitive data (e.g., delivery locations, shipment contents) may be accessed by unauthorized users like their competitors or enemy nations. This data can also be used by hostile and unscrupulous elements to disrupt the economy and share market.
- Healthcare
AI algorithms can help in the analysis of X-rays, CT scans, MRIs, and ultrasounds to detect abnormalities like tumours, fractures, and haemorrhages with high accuracy. AI can accelerate drug discovery by analysing molecular structures and predicting potential drug candidates. AI-powered robots assist surgeons with precision, stability, and minimally invasive procedures. AI enables remote monitoring of chronic patients using wearable devices and sensors.
Privacy Concerns: AI systems handle large volumes of sensitive health data, making them attractive targets for cyberattacks. Misuse of data for marketing, profiling, or selling information can occur. Patients may unknowingly agree to data collection beyond treatment purposes.
- Education
AI can break language-barriers. Students can have access to lectures and materials in all the languages. Swayam Portal can use AI for personalized learning. AI can help students do the research faster and more extensively. AI apps can convert spoken language to text in real time, enabling communication. It can translate Indian Sign Language (ISL) and braille into text or speech, bridging the communication gap.
Privacy Concerns: Students (especially minors and those with cognitive disabilities) may not fully grasp data consent agreements. AI tools could unintentionally discriminate against students based on disabilities or learning patterns. Relying solely on parental or guardian consent may exclude students from decision-making.
- Finance
AI algorithms can analyse transactional data and identify suspicious activities instantly. AI tools can automatically monitor and ensure adherence to guidelines set by RBI, SEBI, and IRDAI. It can simplify Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Know Your Customer (KYC) processes by verifying identities using facial recognition, biometrics, and document verification. AI can financial agreements automatically when conditions are met, reducing latches. AI can help in forecast of inflation, GDP growth, and employment rates. AI-powered sandboxes has ability to allow fintech start-ups to test solutions under regulatory supervision.
Privacy Concerns: Financial data, including income, credit scores, transaction history, and spending patterns, could be exposed. Tax-authorities might be tempted to monitor individuals out of sense of vendetta on behalf of an influential person. If AI models are trained on biased or incomplete data, they may produce unfair outcomes. AI systems in finance are lucrative targets for cybercriminals, posing a high risk of data breaches. Users may unknowingly accept broad data-sharing agreements. Continuous monitoring could feel invasive, impacting user privacy. Any data breach can have devastating consequences.
- Government
The workflow between departments and intra-bureaucracy can be made efficient by using AI. AI can analyse RTI trends, identify frequently requested information, and proactively disclose it. It can predict natural disasters and help in resource allocation. AI can automate routine tasks like data entry, invoice processing, and license renewals. AI-based Optical Character Recognition (OCR) can help digitize and index old physical records, making information easier to access. AI algorithms can detect inconsistencies, flagging duplication and corruption.
Privacy Concerns: With the government having sensitive information like biometric details, age, address, religion, caste, sex, occupation, and income of the people, a government may become Orwellian. Further, any leakage will result in massive fraud and scam, and any mala fide attack can break the delicate fabric of social harmony.
From the discussion above, it would be quite clear that AI has immense potential. It is pertinent that governments around the world develop a uniform AI policy that allows AI technology to grow, but only ethically.
The issues of data use, permission, and accountability become more pressing as AI becomes more integrated into governance. Setting moral and legal limits for the use of AI by the state requires more than just scholarly reflection on the Puttaswamy ruling. The values it upholds continue to be our most effective safeguards against technological overreach.
The right to privacy was acknowledged as a fundamental right under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution in the 2017 ruling in KS Puttaswamy v. Union of India ([2017] 10 S.C.R. 569). It established important values like autonomy, dignity, and informational self-determination and was delivered in the framework of Aadhaar and state monitoring. Its doctrinal foundation is still very relevant today, despite being prominent before the development of mainstream AI. The focus on proportionality, consent, and purpose limitation provides a constitutional framework for analyzing AI governance. Puttaswamy's reasoning is a vital defence against unbridled technological intrusion as AI interacts with human data more and more.
Despite being historic in acknowledging the right to privacy under Article 21, the Puttaswamy ruling had certain abstraction issues. Although it grounds privacy in constitutional morality, there are still many unanswered questions about how to operationalize that right in an AI-dominated environment. The ruling emphasizes informational self-determination but does not specify a concrete framework for enforcing it, which is particularly important in the context of autonomous AI systems and cross-jurisdictional data flows. Although doctrinally valid, its reliance on the proportionality test becomes a brutal instrument when applied to dynamically evolving AI systems that defy traditional inspection. The interpretative gap between rights and actual harms has only grown as a result of the Court's silence on algorithmic opacity and machine accountability.
Yet, it would be misplaced to dismiss the judgment as incomplete. Puttaswamy’s real contribution lies in the normative foundation it lays—it constitutionalises the discourse around personal data and anticipates the contours of future legal interventions. It is this foundation that enabled the Srikrishna Committee to work within a principled frame, and the Digital Personal Data Protection Act to evolve as a rights-based statute. While the judgment may not have accounted for the speed and scale of AI, it has armed future courts and lawmakers with the vocabulary and vision needed to confront emerging threats. In that sense, it remains not a final word, but an indispensable starting point.
In conclusion, the integration of AI into governance in India holds immense potential to enhance efficiency, streamline public services, and foster inclusive growth. However, this optimism must be tempered with caution, ensuring robust privacy frameworks and transparent policies to safeguard individual rights. With a balanced approach, India can harness AI as a tool for progress, setting a global example of responsible innovation that harmonizes technological advancement with the values of democracy and trust. The future, though uncertain, brims with hope if guided by wisdom and accountability.