UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — Why artificial wisdom is the biggest AI risk

Q1. With reference to the ten priority AI risks identified by the OECD, consider the following items. Which of the above is/are correctly identified as one of those priority risks?

  1. Manipulation, disinformation and resulting harms to democracy
  2. Concentration of power in a small number of companies or countries
  3. Loss of forest biodiversity caused by the land footprint of data centres
  4. Exacerbated inequality and poverty
  • A. 1, 2 and 4
  • B. 1 and 3 only
  • C. 2, 3 and 4
  • D. 1, 2, 3 and 4

Q2. Which intergovernmental organisation adopted the AI Principles (first issued in 2019, updated in 2024) and identified the set of ten priority AI risks?

  • A. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
  • B. International Telecommunication Union (ITU)
  • C. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
  • D. International Organization for Standardization (ISO)

Q3. The India AI Governance Guidelines released in November 2025 were issued by which Union ministry?

  • A. Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY)
  • B. NITI Aayog
  • C. Department of Science and Technology
  • D. Ministry of Communications

Q4. In the institutional architecture proposed by the India AI Governance Guidelines (2025), which body is envisaged as the apex coordinating mechanism for a whole-of-government approach?

  • A. AI Governance Group (AIGG)
  • B. Technology and Policy Expert Committee (TPEC)
  • C. AI Safety Institute (AISI)
  • D. Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI)

Q5. The Hiroshima AI Process, whose voluntary Reporting Framework the OECD launched in 2025, originated under a grouping comprising how many member countries?

  • A. 7
  • B. 5
  • C. 20
  • D. 8

Q6. Consider the following statements about the Hiroshima AI Process Reporting Framework. Which of the above is/are correctly identified?

  1. It was launched by the OECD in February 2025
  2. It is a legally binding treaty obligation on all participating companies
  3. It monitors application of the Hiroshima Process International Code of Conduct for organisations developing advanced AI
  4. It is an outcome of the G7 Hiroshima AI Process
  • A. 1, 3 and 4
  • B. 1, 2 and 3
  • C. 2 and 4 only
  • D. 1, 2, 3 and 4

Q7. With reference to the concept of 'artificial wisdom' as discussed in recent commentary, consider the following statements. Which of the above is/are correctly identified?

  1. It denotes the societal misconception that AI produces genuine knowledge and judgment rather than statistical pattern outputs
  2. Its central warning is that mass technological unemployment is the single gravest AI risk
  3. Its core concern is the outsourcing of human cognition and epistemic authority to machines
  4. It was advanced in a 2026 newspaper column by an economist associated with the Madras School of Economics
  • A. 1, 3 and 4
  • B. 1, 2 and 3
  • C. 2 and 4 only
  • D. 1, 2, 3 and 4

Q8. Within India's proposed AI governance architecture, which institution is specifically mandated to focus on AI risk evaluation and safety research?

  • A. AI Safety Institute (AISI)
  • B. AI Governance Group (AIGG)
  • C. Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC)
  • D. Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In)

Q9. The Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence, described as the first global standard-setting instrument on AI ethics, was adopted in 2021 by which organisation?

  • A. UNESCO
  • B. OECD
  • C. International Telecommunication Union
  • D. World Intellectual Property Organization

Q10. Consider the following statements comparing the UNESCO Recommendation on the Ethics of AI (2021) with the OECD AI Principles (2019). Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. The UNESCO Recommendation was adopted by all 193 member states, whereas the OECD AI Principles bind a smaller set of adhering countries
  2. Unlike the OECD AI Principles, the UNESCO Recommendation explicitly bans AI use for social scoring and mass surveillance
  3. The UNESCO Recommendation was the first intergovernmental AI standard, predating the OECD AI Principles
  • A. 1 and 2 only
  • B. 1 and 3 only
  • C. 2 and 3 only
  • D. 1, 2 and 3

Q11. The OECD AI Principles were updated to explicitly address mis/disinformation and the safeguarding of information integrity in the context of generative AI in which year?

  • A. 2024
  • B. 2019
  • C. 2021
  • D. 2023

Q12. The India AI Governance Guidelines (2025) are anchored on which overarching guiding principle?

  • A. Do No Harm
  • B. AI for All
  • C. Precautionary Principle
  • D. Human-in-Command