Generative AI
Also called: GenAI · Topic: Infrastructure: Transport, Communications and Energy · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
Generative AI (GenAI) is a type of artificial intelligence that creates new content when given a prompt, meaning a written instruction. The content can be text, images, audio or code. It learns patterns from huge amounts of existing data. It then produces fresh output that reads smoothly, but it does not check whether that output is true. Because it can write fluent but generic text quickly and in large amounts, its use in government raises worries about accuracy, oversight and public trust. An OECD working paper (2026) found that public servants often use it without formal approval or clear oversight.
Example
An officer asks a GenAI tool to draft a ministry press note on a scheme. In seconds, the tool produces polished lines about a "golden future" under Viksit Bharat 2047 and a "digitally empowered society". But the note gives no target for this year and no actual result. Readers cannot check the claims. If nobody knows the note was AI-drafted, nobody may have checked it before it went out.
Don't confuse with
- Predictive (traditional) AI: it sorts, classifies or forecasts from existing data. Examples are flagging a suspicious transaction or predicting how much electricity people will use. It does not create new content. Generative AI does.