India, Dec. 19 -- The department for promotion of industry and internal trade (DPIIT)'s working paper on generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) and copyright is framed as a careful balancing act - between innovation and creator rights, access and compensation. But its starting premise merits a closer look. The paper assumes that the rapid and ubiquitous deployment of AI systems is not only inevitable, but inherently desirable. Such an approach could end up determining whose interests are treated as foundational and whose are treated as negotiable.

Much of today's responsible AI discourse begins with a more basic question: Is AI actually necessary to transform every sector and ecosystem? While AI can certainly deliver efficiencies, the D...