OBSERVER RESEARCH FOUNDATION

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

ORF’s research in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) primarily focuses on governance, norms, and the applicability of AI in the military context. Aside from publishing studies, the Foundation also fosters international engagement through the organisation of workshops and conferences on AI governance.

In 2018, ORF published an occasional paper ‒ Beyond the ‘Lethal’ in lethal autonomous weapons: Applications of LAWS in theatres of conflict for middle powers ‒ that tackles how lethal autonomous weapons systems (LAWS) could advance the efficiency of the Indian, South Korean, Indonesian, and Filipino military forces. Building on the 2018 report of the Group of Governmental Experts on emerging technologies in the area of LAWS (GGE on LAWS), the study explores the concept of accountability and the possible uses of  autonomous weapon systems for middle powers. In a separate study, ORF also examines the applicability of AI in naval operations, namely, how it can transform maritime security missions. Other research conducted by ORF includes:

• Formulating AI norms: Intelligent systems and human values ‒ addresses how AI norms should be formulated and draws five key lessons from current AI norm-setting.
• The urgent need to address gender-bias in AI ‒ tackles issues such as gender inequity in datasets and the presence of gender-bias in AI and provides suggestions towards an inclusive environment.
• AI policy analysis: AIDP of China vs. India’s NITI Aayog AI ‒ analyses and compares China’s Artificial Intelligence Development Plan and India’s #AIforAll Strategy.
• Your AI versus my AI: Zachary Lipton on the dangers of the AI and machine learning hype cycle ‒ explores the hype and confusion surrounding AI and the related concept of machine learning.

5G

ORF’s research in the area of 5G is centred on geopolitics and infrastructure.

In 2020, ORF explored the role of India in terms of adoption of 5G in Is India betting big on Huawei. The commentary highlights that 5G technology could be highly beneficial to India’s economic prosperity and social transformation but also raises concerns over co-operation with the Chinese tech giant Huawei on 5G deployment. It also explores the possible role of Huawei in the EU, in a publication entitled EU and 5G: Between alliance and availability, and warns that if the EU fails to support its companies such as Nokia and Ericsson, they will lose the market to other actors such as ZTE and Samsung. ORF has also conducted research on:

• 5G matters: (Geo)politics and critical national infrastructure ‒ explores why states should regard 5G technology as critical infrastructure.
• 5G Infrastructure, Huawei’s Techno-Economic Advantages and India’s National Security Concerns: An Analysis ‒ tackles a number of risks pertaining to the involvement of Chinese companies such as Huawei in India’s critical infrastructure.