Emphasising the primacy of human judgment in the age of artificial intelligence, Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh on Thursday said that institutional memory and contextual human knowledge must remain central to the development and use of AI in legislatures.
Addressing a workshop on the adoption of artificial intelligence during the 28th Conference of Speakers and Presiding Officers of the Commonwealth (CSPOC) in New Delhi, Harivansh said that if AI is to be integrated into parliamentary functioning, it must be accountable, contextual and trustworthy. “Artificial Intelligence in Parliament must be rooted in truth, bound by ethics, guided by human judgment, and accountable to democratic values,” he asserted.
Highlighting the need for a hybrid approach, the Deputy Chairman drew a distinction between skills and institutional knowledge. While skills can be acquired or outsourced, he said, knowledge is deeply embedded within institutions and shaped over decades through debates, rulings, conventions and constitutional practices. “The same principle applies to Artificial Intelligence. Institutional knowledge of humans is central to developing accountable AI for Parliaments,” he noted.
Harivansh cautioned against unbalanced adoption of technology, observing that innovation without restraint carries risks, while excessive restraint could lead to stagnation. Stressing the importance of human oversight, he said the ability to intervene must be integral to any AI-driven system used in legislatures.
Referring to practical applications already underway in the Indian Parliament, he said AI models are being used for translation of parliamentary business documents, analysis of debates and assistance in framing questions across 22 languages. A Parliamentary Language Dictionary of around 48,000 terms has been developed and integrated into a custom AI model exclusively for parliamentary use, significantly improving accuracy and acceptance. He clarified that human translators continue to remain firmly in control, with AI functioning only as an assistive tool.
In his concluding remarks, Harivansh called for enhanced cooperation among Commonwealth parliaments in the application of artificial intelligence, underlining the shared responsibility to uphold democratic values while embracing technological change.
The two-day CSPOC conference is being hosted by India for the fourth time, following earlier editions in 1971, 1986 and 2010. The conference was inaugurated earlier in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Central Hall of Parliament, Samvidhan Sadan.
