I stumbled across Loksabha Q&As while researching a topic. I was not satisfied with one of the answers by the minister. Then, I searched online regarding that topic for clarification. That’s when I thought about ChatGPT.

I started asking ChatGPT questions that MPs raise in Parliament and I think that this can really really be revolutionary.

We need to be aware of how it functions. We need to give proper prompts to get relevant answers. For example, an MP can ask – ‘What is the government doing in XYZ matter?’ But while asking the same question to ChatGPT, we have to write – ‘What is the Indian government doing in XYZ matter?’

We need to understand that it has a memory up to September 2021. Therefore, we cannot ask about current inflation or the updated status of the Bullet Train Project. Therefore, I had to restrict myself to only a few questions where the period does not matter. But I believe, once (or if) it goes live, then there is a lot to explore.

It becomes interesting and a lot of fun once you get the knack for it. Here are some samples of questions raised by the MPs and answered by the relevant minister in Loksabha as well as Chat GPT.

Share a short link of the article – https://wp.me/p8aKIW-O1

The first question is about the ChatGPT itself.

Unstarred Question No. 5355, Date – 5th April 2023

Question –

Will the Minister of Electronics and Information Technology be pleased to state:

(a) whether the Government has started exploring the usage of ChatGPT technology in the country and if so, the details thereof;
(b) whether the Government is exploring the possibility of using Artificial Intelligence for usage of differently abled and if so, the details thereof alongwith the steps taken by the Government in this regard;
(c) whether the Government is planning to use artificial intelligence for governance; and
(d) if so, the details thereof?

Minister’s Answer –

(a): ChatGPT is a Large Language Model (LLM) launched by OpenAI. While it has made significant strides, there are still many challenges with these types of models.

National Program on Artificial Intelligence – IndiaAI is being implemented with the objective to establish a comprehensive program for leveraging transformative technologies to foster inclusion, innovation, and adoption for social impact. Under the vision of IndiaAI, Government has approved Digital India Bhashini initiative, to provide Artificial Intelligence (AI) driven language technology solutions through Bhashini platform (https://bhashini.gov.in) for all 22 Scheduled Indian Languages including voice-based access, and help the creation of content in Indian languages.

(b) to (d): AI is considered as a kinetic enabler of the digital economy and innovation ecosystem. Government is harnessing the potential of AI to provide personalized and interactive citizen-centric services through Digital Public Platforms. With this vision, National Program on Artificial Intelligence encompasses four broad pillars of the AI ecosystem, including Skilling in AI, Responsible AI, Data Management Office, and the National Centre on AI (NCAI).The National Center for AI has been strategized as a sector-agnostic entity that will gather problem statements from central ministries and state departments, including those related to governance and differently-abled individuals. Its objective is to scale AI solutions for nationwide implementation in order to generate significant social impact including for the differently abled.

Chat GPT’s Answer –

a) As an AI language model, I am not aware of the specific initiatives of the Government of India related to the exploration of ChatGPT technology. However, I can say that ChatGPT technology has been used in various applications worldwide, including customer service, language translation, and medical diagnoses.

b) Yes, the Government of India has initiated various programs that involve the use of Artificial Intelligence to aid differently-abled individuals. One such initiative is the Accessible India Campaign, which aims to make public infrastructure accessible to all citizens, including differently-abled individuals. The campaign includes the use of technology such as mobile apps and assistive devices to help individuals with disabilities.

Additionally, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has launched a scheme called “Assistance to Disabled Persons for Purchase/Fitting of Aids and Appliances (ADIP)” to provide financial assistance to persons with disabilities to purchase assistive devices such as wheelchairs, hearing aids, and artificial limbs.

c) Yes, the Government of India has launched various initiatives related to the use of Artificial Intelligence for governance. One such initiative is the National Programme on Artificial Intelligence, launched in 2020, which aims to establish India as a global hub for AI research, development, and its application in various sectors.

The government has also launched AI-based initiatives in various sectors, such as healthcare, agriculture, and education. For instance, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has launched an AI-based platform called “ArogyaSetu” to help individuals assess their COVID-19 risk, and the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare has launched an AI-based app called “Kisan Suvidha” to provide information to farmers about weather conditions, crop health, and market prices.

You can ask the ChatGPT to regenerate the response and it works great. It includes more points or the same points but elaborates them in a much better way. That is another way to explore how ChatGPT works.

In the above question, I have marked policies in bold to compare the two responses. ChatGPT did not include the ‘Digital India Bhashini initiative’ (Minister mentioned it) as it started in 2022. But I am sure that it would have mentioned it had it been live.

Now in the next question, Chat GPT committed a mistake. Let us see how.

This question pertained to the Economic Census of India.

Unstarred Question No. 5518, Date – 5th April 2023

Question –

(a) whether Economic Census (EC) lists out economic establishments/enterprises in the country;

(b) if so, the details thereof;

(c) the total number of economic establishments/enterprises listed in the country;

(d) whether the Government has taken steps to use the Economic Census (EC) to design developmental policies for economic growth and employment generation in the country; and

(e) if so, the details thereof?

Minster’s Answer –

(a) to (c): Yes sir. Economic Census is the complete count of all non-farm economic establishments located within the geographical boundary of the country. As per 6th Economic Census results, a total of 5,84,95,359 economic establishments were listed in the country.
(d) & (e): Economic Census data have been widely disseminated to several government and non-government agencies for their research, analysis, policy formulations, etc. Usage of EC data by these user agencies is expected to facilitate in designing developmental policies for economic growth, employment generation, etc. in the country.

Chat GPT’s Answer –

(a) Yes, the Economic Census (EC) lists out economic establishments/enterprises in India.

(b) The EC collects information on all economic establishments/enterprises in India, including their geographical location, type of economic activity, number of workers, ownership pattern, and other relevant details. The data is collected at the village/ward level and aggregated at higher administrative levels.

(c) The latest Economic Census was conducted in 2019 and the preliminary results indicate that there are around 63.4 million economic establishments in the country.

(d) Yes, the Government of India has been using the Economic Census (EC) to design developmental policies for economic growth and employment generation in the country. The data collected through the EC provides important insights into the structure and dynamics of the Indian economy, which can be used to identify areas of strength and weakness, and to develop targeted policies to promote growth and employment.

(e) Some of the specific steps taken by the government to use the EC for policy design include:

The data collected through the EC is used to identify the most important economic sectors in different regions of the country, which helps to prioritize investments and policy interventions.

The government has used the data on the size and structure of the informal sector, which accounts for a large share of economic activity in India, to develop policies to promote formalization and improve working conditions for informal workers.

The data on the ownership patterns of economic establishments has been used to develop policies to promote entrepreneurship and small business development.

The government has also used the EC data to identify gaps in infrastructure and other support services that are needed to promote economic growth and development in different regions of the country.

In this response, Chat GPT got confused between the total number of establishments as per the 6th Economic Census (2013-14) and the total MSME units as per CII estimates (2021). No idea, how it went wrong. But if you compare the answers to questions (d) and (e), you can see that Chat GPT answers them in detail.

For the next question, I had to go back to the Chat GPT’s era i.e. 2021.

The question pertains to Minimum Support Price (MSP) for farmers.

Starred Question 311, Date – 10th August 2021

Question –

(a) the policy adopted by the Government aimed at a return over the cost of cultivation;

(b) whether the Government has assessed the impact of the hike in Minimum Support Price (MSP) among the distressed farmers; and

(c) if so, the details thereof?

Minister’s Answer –

(a): The Government in its Union Budget for 2018-19 had announced the pre-determined principle to keep Minimum Support Price (MSP) at a level of one and half times of the cost of production. Accordingly, Government has increased the MSP for all mandated Kharif, Rabi and other commercial crops with a return of atleast 50 per cent over all India weighted average cost of production from the agricultural year 2018-19 onwards. In addition to cost of production, Commission for Agricultural Cost & Prices (CACP) also considers various other factors while recommending MSP which include overall demand-supply situations of various crops in domestic and world markets, domestic and international prices, inter-crop price parity, terms of trade between agriculture and non-agriculture sector among others.

(b) & (c): Enhanced percentage return over the cost of production is bound to have positive impact on increase in the farmers’ income. Apart from this, several steps have been taken by the Ministry for the benefits of farmers by way of providing schemes and interventions for improving the income of farmers, and the details are given in Annex.

Annexure link – https://pqals.nic.in/annex/176/AS311.pdf

Chat GPT’s Answer –

(a) The Indian Government has adopted several policies aimed at ensuring a return over the cost of cultivation for farmers. One such policy is the Minimum Support Price (MSP) system, which sets a floor price for certain agricultural commodities to ensure that farmers receive a fair price for their produce. The MSP is announced by the Government of India at the beginning of each crop season, and it is designed to cover the cost of cultivation, including inputs such as seeds, fertilizers, and labour.

Apart from MSP, the government has also implemented various other policies such as the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) which is a crop insurance scheme aimed at protecting farmers from losses due to crop failure, and the e-NAM (National Agriculture Market) which is an online trading platform that aims to create a unified national market for agricultural commodities.

(b) The Indian Government has undertaken various assessments to evaluate the impact of the hike in Minimum Support Price (MSP) on distressed farmers. In 2018, the Government constituted a committee of agricultural economists and policy experts to study the impact of MSP on farmers’ incomes. The committee submitted its report in 2019, which highlighted the need for a comprehensive policy framework to ensure that farmers receive remunerative prices for their crops.

Moreover, the government has also launched various schemes to provide direct income support to farmers such as the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana (PM-KISAN) which provides financial assistance to farmers in the form of direct benefit transfer, and the Kisan Credit Card (KCC) scheme which provides credit support to farmers.

(c) The details of the impact assessment of the hike in MSP on distressed farmers can be found in the report submitted by the committee of agricultural economists and policy experts in 2019. The report highlighted the need for a comprehensive policy framework to ensure that farmers receive remunerative prices for their crops. The report also recommended various measures to increase farmers’ income, such as improving market access, reducing transaction costs, and promoting value addition in the agricultural sector. Moreover, the report emphasized the need for timely and effective implementation of government schemes aimed at supporting farmers’ income.

Although Chat GPT impresses us with the details, it loses nuance and the crux of questions. The above question, it could not answer the impact of different policies or the MSP on farmers. Ministry, on the other hand, has provided an annexure of the impact of different policies.

Conclusion

I guess it is safe to say that Chat GPT can reduce the bulk of background work or research, in general. It can give detailed verbatim responses but cannot understand the context and the accuracy of information. It can sound smart. It can probably write good emails had these questions been asked in an email. But in a Parliament setup, brevity and accuracy of information are of utmost importance. Therefore, it can be a good intern for Ministries responding to emails or letters at the current stage. I said intern, on purpose, as one needs to check what it has written or researched (check thrice for figures and data) before sending it to say, PMO.

I asked Chat GPT, whether it had any intention to replace MPs in Parliament and the answer summarises its role, which can also be an apt conclusion for this article.

“As an AI language model, my function is to provide information and answer questions based on available data and knowledge. While I can provide accurate and objective information on various topics, I cannot engage in debates or discussions like ministers in Lok Sabha.

The role of ministers in Lok Sabha is to represent their respective ministries, explain government policies, and participate in debates and discussions related to the functioning of the government. They have access to confidential information, and their decisions are based on a range of factors, including political considerations, economic implications, and social impact.

In contrast, my role as an AI language model is to provide factual information and offer insights based on available data. I can help people understand complex issues, provide historical context, and offer different perspectives on various topics. However, I cannot make decisions or represent a particular political stance.

Ultimately, the question of whether ChatGPT can answer better than ministers in Lok Sabha depends on the specific question being asked and the context in which it is being asked. While I can provide accurate and objective information, ministers in Lok Sabha have access to more nuanced information and can make informed decisions based on a range of factors beyond the scope of my abilities.”

– Swapnil Karkare (with the help of Chat GPT)