Artificial Intelligence and Human Security: Between Promise and Peril Samvada World

While policymakers and researchers continue to debate solutions, the transformative force likely to address many of these human security challenges lies in Artificial Intelligence.
Artificial Intelligence has undoubtedly sparked a revolution in cyberspace, transforming daily life, and it remains a powerful yet unpredictable ‘new toy’ that demands caution from national governments and societies alike.
The UNDP’s definition prompted policymakers, thinkers, and officials worldwide to rethink security, shifting focus from traditional military threats to broader human concerns.
Handled wisely, AI could help humanity advance toward a new stage of civilization. Mismanaged, it could pose unprecedented risks.

“Human Family will not enjoy development without security, will not enjoy security without development and will not enjoy either without respect for Human Rights”- Kofi Annan

Human Life is all about being safe and content from any threats to our existence and in doing so we as Nations and Countries worldwide have established our own militaries and formed alliances out of security dilemma (Herz 1950), however in today’s contemporary world, there are several issues to our very existence which become overlooked and is beyond the measures of traditional military security and it is these sources of non-military issues which threaten our very existence today. Today, we measure them in terms of Human Security and Not Territorial Security in a post-cold war era.

Human Security: a new kind of security?

In the year 1994, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) published a ground breaking report titled New Dimensions of Human Security, where it defined Human Security as ‘safety from chronic threats such as hunger, disease and repression, as well as protection from sudden and harmful disruptions in the patterns of daily life-whether in homes, jobs and communities (UNDP 1994)

This definition of Security by the United Nations Development Programme led many to reconceptualize the meaning of security, where policy makers, thinkers and administrative officials across Governments in Countries changed their outlook of security which was earlier associated with Military security and Security of a State from External Military threats.

This change in its very conceptual definition was further substantiated by renowned economists such as Mahbub Ul Haq and Amartya Sen, where Mahbub ul Haq in his paper, ‘New Imperatives in Human Security’ specifically mentions that Human Security is not state-centric, rather it is an approach to consider the security of ordinary individuals and people in everyday life. Ul Haq, has been explicit in his statement on Human Security where he emphasizes that Human Security pertains above all to the safety and wellbeing “of all people everywhere -in their homes, in their jobs, in the streets, in the communities, in the environment” (Haq cited in Bajpai 2000:11)

So, what can be the threats to Human Security?

Economic Security: The main threat stems from extreme poverty and the inability to maintain a basic minimum income through formal or informal employment (UNDP 1994: 236).
Food Security: Threats arise from sudden famines that lead to hunger and poverty. Food security depends on self-sufficiency, purchasing power, or access to government distribution networks (UNDP 1994: 236).
Health Security: Threats include accidents and diseases requiring medical care, particularly in underdeveloped rural areas where access to basic health facilities is limited, especially for women and children (UNDP 1994: 236).
Environmental Security: Environmental degradation through air, water, and land pollution exposes populations to unhealthy living conditions. Threats also emerge from natural disasters like cyclones, earthquakes, and floods, as well as man-made failures such as dam breaches due to poor safety standards (UNDP 1994: 236).
Personal Security: Threats come from physical violence, state repression through police or military brutality, and war crimes during conflicts—such as rape, torture, killings, forced labour, and hostage-taking (UNDP 1994: 236).
Community Security: These threats target communities or cultural groups at risk of persecution during armed conflicts (UNDP 1994: 236).
Political Security: Threats emerge from state-led repression, erosion of human rights, and abuse of power through torture, unlawful killings, detentions, and kidnappings by political and military elites (UNDP 1994: 236).

While policymakers and researchers continue to debate solutions, the transformative force likely to address many of these human security challenges lies in Artificial Intelligence. Emerging technologies in cyberspace and information systems have the potential to offer revolutionary, cross-sectoral interventions that can mitigate these threats and enhance human security globally.

Artificial Intelligence: A New Dawn or Final Frontier?

It was 1956 that John McCarthy who came up with the word called ‘Artificial Intelligence’ and his predictions and imaginations came true as today almost every system in the world uses Artificial Intelligence. Today, companies such as Google or even Microsoft pioneer their own versions of Artificial Intelligence such as Azure AI foundry for Microsoft and Google Gemini which are capable of high-end operations, both of them being American origin.

The People’s Republic of China has its own version of Artificial Intelligence in the name of Deep Seek R1 developed by their own AI company named as Deep Seek. India too has developed its own Artificial Intelligence under the umbrella of its India AI mission, creating its own sovereign large language models (LLM) like Sarvam-M and Bharat GPT which are tailored for Indian languages and Cultural landscapes. Such language applications have made it possible for one Indian language to be translated in another language.

Can Artificial Intelligence support our everyday lives?

While Artificial Intelligence is the final frontier in the world of computers and information systems, it has undoubtedly made an impact in our everyday lives, where we can see the impact of this in all facets of human life in India as well.

Indian Context

Artificial Intelligence and Health in India

The health sector in India is being rapidly transformed to promote efficiency, accessibility and patient care. It is believed that the Indian AI health care market is projected to grow significantly reaching $ 1.6 billion in 2025. Artificial Intelligence is used in various applications including early disease detection, drug discovery and remote patient monitoring.

Government initiatives in promoting Artificial Intelligence in Indian Healthcare Sector can further be catapulted with Government of India initiatives like Bharat Net which can focus on broadband connectivity for primary health centres at the Gram Panchayat level. (PIB 2024)^a

Moreover, Wadhwani A.I. is also making revolutions in the healthcare system in India where this particular startup has been dedicating itself for social welfare in India.

Artificial Intelligence and National Security for India

Countering threats to Personal Security in the form Terrorism and Military Invasion is an age old threat in India, where National Academic and Policy discourse has often been hijacked by Concepts of Military Threats from Pakistan or even China and today, to prevent such acts of internal and external terrorism, the Government of India has made use of Artificial Intelligence to enhance its National Security Apparatus in terms of border defence and counter terrorism , some of which being the AI Data Bank and National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence

AI Data bank

The AI data bank is set to be a game changer in the work towards National Security in India, where after having launched by the Ministry of Science and Technology in 2024, the AI data bank will enhance ‘national security through real time analytics of satellite, drone and IOT (Internet of Things) data, where the data bank is also aligned to the country’s goal to utilize AI for disaster management and cyber security. (PIB 2024)^b

Artificial Intelligence and Economic prosperity and Governance in India

A country with the largest population speaking diverse languages is not an easy task for the Government of India to cater to and that is the reason why the Government has used Artificial intelligence in its entire Governance architecture, some of them being as under:

Aadhar and Financial fraud

In a report by the standing committee on finance in the Parliament of India , financial crimes such as Money Laundering, Bribery in the country had risen by 6.94 lakhs in 2022 compared to 2.62 lakhs in 2021 and amidst all of this the UIDAI in 2023 launched the Aadhar Finger Print Technology in 2023, where the technology uses a combination of finger minutiae and finger image to check the liveliness of the fingerprint captured, where the AI based technology is now able to identify whether the fingerprint is real/live or a cloned one.

Railways and Reservation

The Indian Railway catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has also made great strides in its reservation system making it easy for every Indian citizen, where its own AI powered Ask Disha 2.0, enables customers to interact with the system via voice, chat and click based systems, where the system requires no password but will also work on One time password sent to the individuals number. This portal has helped to improve passenger satisfaction and interaction by more than 70%, where the latest version Ask Disha 2.0, allows passengers to book tickets using voice commands. (Anjali 2022) ^a

National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence

The Government of India under the auspices of the NITI AAYOG launched this initiative in 2018 which aims to develop an ecosystem for the research and adoption of Artificial Intelligence which is now ‘AI for all’ where the Government plans to make Artificial Intelligence as an inclusive technological tool for every Indian Citizen in their daily lives.

Where the Government plans to use Artificial Intelligence as AI for ‘40% of the world’ and solve 40% of the world’s problems including in India and plan to fill gaps in several sectors such as:

Smart Cities: AI could be used in cases including Traffic control to reduce congestion and enhanced security through crowd management.
Energy and Power: Potential use cases in the energy sector include energy system modelling and forecasting to decrease unpredictability and increase efficiency in power balance and usage. In renewable energy systems AI can enable storage of energy through intelligent grids enabled by smart meters and also improve the reliability and affordability of Photovoltaic energy. Similar to the Manufacturing Sector, AI may also be deployed for predictive maintenance of grid infrastructure.
Education and Skilling: AI can potentially solve for quality and access issues observed in the Indian education sector. Potential use cases include augmenting and enhancing the learning experience through personalised learning, automating and expediting administrative tasks, and predicting the need for student intervention to reduce dropouts or recommend vocational training. (NITI Aayog 2018)

Artificial Intelligence and Environmental Security in India

The most populated country on the earth is also susceptible to climate change and environmental degradation and to address such challenges in contemporary India, an application tool known as Lidelands (Lila) has become an innovative digital tool that uses satellite imagery, Artificial Intelligence and Geographic Information Systems (G.I.S) based analytics and visualization to detect and create blue-green corridors and restore ecosystems. In addition, the Lila tool provides ready to implement solutions for land degradation and the creation of Carbon sinks, thereby enhancing food and water security.

AI Based monitoring system for Forest conservation

To combat deforestation, the National Remote Sensing Centre (N.R.S.C) , which is a programme under the I.S.R.O. has engineered a new monitoring system to observe forest cover change, by combining optical remote sensing, geographic information systems, artificial intelligence and automation, where the new system allows monitoring experts to detect small scale deforestation to further limit the damage caused to forests and to improve the frequency of reporting from once per year to once per month. (Anjali 2022)^b

Artificial Intelligent Human Security

While it is quite clear from the above facts that Artificial Intelligence has become a part of our everyday lives, the same is being utilised and adapted to every face of our everyday lives, whether it be Economy, Environment, Homeland Security/National Security and Health, which are all the crucial components of Human Security and it is here that Human Security intersects with Artificial Intelligence to somehow help in what I would term it as ‘Artificially Intelligent Human Security System’ which is nothing but human security being aided with the help of Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence: Impeding doom?

Ever watched the movie Terminator or the Mission Impossible recently where Artificial Intelligence gets smarter or where countries use Artificial Intelligence to target each other.

Artificial Intelligence holds immense promise, with applications spanning homes, workplaces, and national systems. From mobile devices to entertainment platforms, its benefits are evident across countries. Yet, these advantages come with significant risks and challenges, as highlighted in global forums like the United Nations.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres cautioned:

“First, we are playing catchup on today’s threats. We need to get ahead of the wave. In the past year, we experienced the release of powerful AI models with little consideration for the safety and security of users. Every time this happens, it increases the risk that technology will be used maliciously by criminals or even terrorists; that it will undermine security or information integrity; that people could lose control of it; and that it could develop in unintended directions. We urgently need frameworks to deal with these risks, so that both developers and the public are safe and can have confidence in AI.

The second area for action concerns AI’s possible long-term negative consequences. These include disruption to job markets and economies; and the loss of cultural diversity that could result from algorithms that perpetuate biases and stereotypes. The concentration of AI in a few countries and companies could increase geopolitical tensions. Right now, the vast majority of advanced AI chips are made in one of the most geopolitically sensitive places on Earth.

Longer-term harms extend to the potential development of dangerous new AI-enabled weapons… the malicious combination of AI with biotechnology… and threats to democracy and human rights from AI-assisted misinformation, manipulation and surveillance. We need frameworks to monitor and analyse these trends, in order to prevent them” (UN 2023).

Guterres’ remarks make it clear that AI, if misused, could intensify existing geopolitical rivalries, empower malicious actors, and destabilize societies. In the wrong hands, it risks becoming a catalyst for conflict—potentially a ticking time bomb for humanity.

The Road Ahead

While Artificial Intelligence has undoubtedly sparked a revolution in cyberspace, transforming daily life, it remains a powerful yet unpredictable “new toy” that demands caution from national governments and societies alike. As AI grows smarter, containing its potential threats becomes increasingly complex. The real challenge lies in managing its capabilities responsibly.

As UN Secretary-General António Guterres observed, “The principles for AI governance should be based on the United Nations Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. We urgently need to incorporate those principles into AI safety.” His words underline the need for a global ethical and regulatory framework to guide AI development.

Handled wisely, AI could help humanity advance toward a new stage of civilization. Mismanaged, it could pose unprecedented risks. The choice ultimately rests with us—the creators—to decide how we wield this transformative force.

References:

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_{Herz, John H. (1950), “Idealist Internationalism and the Security Dilemma”, World Politics, 2(2): 157-180}
_{NITI Aayog (2018), National Institute for Transforming India, “National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence”, 1 June, URL:}_{https://www.niti.gov.in/sites/default/files/2023-03/National-Strategy-for-Artificial-Intelligence.pdf}
_{A) PIB (2024), Press Information Bureau, “4th edition of India Internet Governance Forum (IIGF)”, 9 December, URL:}_{https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleseDetailm.aspx?PRID=2082415}
_{B) PIB (2024), Press Information Bureau, “AI Is an Essential Tool but Must Be Used Optimally with Responsible Handling, Says Union Minister Jitendra Singh At ASSOCHAM AI Leadership Meet 2024”, 20 November, URL:}_{https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2075176}
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_{UN (2023), United Nations, “Sustained, Structured Conversation around Risks, Challenges, Opportunities of Artificial Intelligence Vital, Secretary -General tells safety summit,” 2 November, URL:}_{https://press.un.org/en/2023/sgsm22017.doc.htm}