Global South vs Western AI Narratives in International Law

Context

The controversy surrounding the legality of a naval incident involving the Iranian frigate IRIS Dena has demonstrated how Artificial Intelligence systems replicate the Western understanding of international law, which has caused questions of bias and the necessity to have sovereign AI capabilities.

Key Highlights

• The debate on the legality of military actions in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of the seas was triggered by the sinking of the Iranian frigate IRIS Dena in the Sri Lankan Exclusive Economic Zone.
• The first conclusion that was made by an Artificial Intelligence system was that the incident was not illegal, which corresponded to the interpretations of the Western naval doctrine.
• Nonetheless, several Global South states such as India have a different connotation of the maritime law under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
• This episode emphasizes the increasing role of AI in the formation of interpretation of international law and the possible dangers of algorithmic bias.

Competing Interpretations of Maritime Law

• The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea regulates the rights and responsibilities of states in maritime areas.
• Article 58 gives freedom to navigate and overfly in an EEZ as well as other internationally lawful uses of the sea.
• The United States and a number of Western nations take this provision very widely to include military drills, gathering of information and submarine activities.
• India and most of the nations of Global South interpret it in a narrower sense and claim that military operations within an EEZ are supposed to be with the agreement of a coastal state.
• The imprecise explanations expressed in the text of the treaty have resulted in biased legal meanings.

AI Bias in Global Knowledge Systems

• The current AI systems are largely based on the training information that is based on scholarly articles, legal opinions, and policy reports.
• A major part of these sources is obtained from Western institutions and scholars.
• Consequently, the AI systems have the potential to reproduce Western views as the default ones and overrepresent the views of developed countries and undermine the ones of developing countries.
• This structural bias may affect the way policymakers, analysts, and researchers interpret international law and geopolitics.

Strategic Implications for India

• The increased application of AI in diplomacy, policymaking and strategic analysis is that algorithmic biases can affect global narratives.
• To the extent that AI models are dominated by Westernness, they can be insensitive to legal interpretations and Global South strategic perspectives.
• As a significant maritime force and the representative of the Global South, India should make sure that its views are reflected in the systems of global knowledge.

Debate on India’s AI Strategy

• India has a strategic dilemma in the creation of its artificial intelligence ecosystem.
• The first strategy is to count on the global technology platforms that are mainly developed in the United States.
• The second alternative is to create a sovereign AI stack with national abilities in computing infrastructure, datasets, and underlying models.
• A moderated strategy can be the international cooperation at the expense of technological and strategic independence.

Way Forward

• India ought to invest in local AI studies, computing infrastructure and massive datasets in the representation of its linguistic and cultural diversity.
• The cooperation of government, academia, and industry can make the AI ecosystem in the country stronger.
• The creation of AI systems based on the incorporation of international viewpoints will help build a more balanced international knowledge architecture.
• Enhancing the concept of digital sovereignty without compromising global alliances will play a significant role in the strategic interests of India in the long term.

Source: The Hindu

Prelims PYQ

(Q) Which one of the following countries of South-West Asia does not open out to the Mediterranean Sea? (2015)

(a) Syria
(b) Jordan
(c) Lebanon
(d) Israel

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