UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — SC seeks Centre’s reply on AI use in public welfare

Q1. In August 2026 the Supreme Court declined to entertain a public interest litigation challenging the unregulated use of 'high-risk' artificial intelligence by the government in welfare delivery. The Bench that heard the matter was headed by which one of the following?

  • A. Justice Joymalya Bagchi, sitting with two companion judges of the Supreme Court
  • B. Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, sitting with two companion judges of the Supreme Court
  • C. Justice V. Mohana, sitting with two companion judges of the Supreme Court
  • D. Justice B.R. Gavai, sitting with two companion judges of the Supreme Court

Q2. With reference to the Supreme Court's August 2026 disposal of the petition on government use of artificial intelligence in welfare governance, consider the following: 1. The Court held that the subject matter falls within the policy domain. 2. The Court asked the Union government to consider the representation already filed by the petitioner. 3. The Court laid down binding directions making algorithmic impact assessments mandatory for all high-risk government AI systems. 4. The Court refused to entertain the petition rather than issuing notice and admitting it for hearing. Which of the above is/are correctly identified?

  1. The Court held that the subject matter falls within the policy domain.
  2. The Court asked the Union government to consider the representation already filed by the petitioner.
  3. The Court laid down binding directions making algorithmic impact assessments mandatory for all high-risk government AI systems.
  4. The Court refused to entertain the petition rather than issuing notice and admitting it for hearing.
  • A. 1 and 2 only
  • B. 1, 2 and 4
  • C. 2, 3 and 4
  • D. 1, 3 and 4

Q3. The petition before the Supreme Court sought that 'algorithmic impact assessments' be made mandatory before high-risk artificial intelligence systems are deployed in welfare governance. Such an assessment is best understood as which one of the following?

  • A. A prior evaluation of how an automated decision system is likely to affect the rights and entitlements of the groups it will be applied to
  • B. A benchmarking exercise measuring the computational efficiency and energy footprint of a model against comparable systems in use
  • C. A commercial appraisal of how the deployment of a model will affect the revenues of domestic technology firms and start-ups
  • D. A statistical estimate of the accuracy gain a model delivers over the manual process it is intended to replace

Q4. The plea argued that no specific statutory framework governs high-risk AI, machine learning and biometric surveillance systems used by the State in welfare delivery. As of 2026, the general enacted law regulating the processing of digital personal data, including by the State, is which one of the following?

  • A. The Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016
  • B. The Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021
  • C. The Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023
  • D. The Right to Information Act, 2005, as amended by the Digital India framework

Q5. The India AI Governance Guidelines are built on a set of guiding principles termed 'Sutras', and group their substantive recommendations under a number of governance pillars. The recommendations are organised under how many pillars?

  • A. Four
  • B. Six
  • C. Seven
  • D. Nine

Q6. Consider the following statements comparing India's two early AI policy documents: 1. The National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence identified five focus sectors for AI-led societal development, among them healthcare, agriculture and education. 2. The later Approach Document, Part 1 — Principles for Responsible AI, unlike the earlier Strategy, set out principles that it derived from the tenets of the Indian Constitution. 3. Both documents were brought out by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology in coordination with NITI Aayog. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. The National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence identified five focus sectors for AI-led societal development, among them healthcare, agriculture and education.
  2. The later Approach Document, Part 1 — Principles for Responsible AI, unlike the earlier Strategy, set out principles that it derived from the tenets of the Indian Constitution.
  3. Both documents were brought out by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology in coordination with NITI Aayog.
  • A. 1 only
  • B. 1 and 2 only
  • C. 2 and 3 only
  • D. 1, 2 and 3

Q7. Which one of the following was the first official Indian policy document to articulate the 'AI for All' vision as the governing benchmark for AI design, development and deployment in the country?

  • A. NITI Aayog's Approach Document for India, Part 1 — Principles for Responsible AI
  • B. NITI Aayog's National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence
  • C. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology's India AI Governance Guidelines
  • D. The Union Cabinet's approval note establishing the IndiaAI Mission

Q8. Under the IndiaAI Application Development Initiative, an Innovation Challenge was run to source AI solutions in sectors such as healthcare, agriculture and governance. How many solutions were shortlisted in its first stage for pilot implementation with Central Ministries, States and other organisations?

  • A. Five
  • B. Thirteen
  • C. Thirty
  • D. Fifty-eight

Q9. Work on bias mitigation, machine unlearning, privacy-preserving architectures, algorithm auditing tools and AI risk-assessment protocols is taken up principally under which one of the pillars of the IndiaAI Mission?

  • A. Safe & Trusted AI
  • B. IndiaAI Application Development Initiative
  • C. IndiaAI Innovation Centre for Foundation Models
  • D. IndiaAI FutureSkills

Q10. Objections to automated profiling and biometric surveillance in welfare administration rest on the constitutional status of informational privacy in India. In K.S. Puttaswamy v. Union of India (2017), the Supreme Court declared the right to privacy to be protected as an intrinsic part of which right, and by a Bench of what strength?

  • A. The right to life and personal liberty under Article 21, by a Bench of nine judges
  • B. The right to freedom of speech and expression under Article 19(1)(a), by a Bench of nine judges
  • C. The right to life and personal liberty under Article 21, by a Bench of seven judges
  • D. The right to equality before the law under Article 14, by a Bench of five judges

Q11. India's AI Governance Guidelines follow a principle-based, risk-proportionate approach, and are often contrasted with the European Union's AI Act. Which one of the following correctly describes the legal character of the EU AI Act?

  • A. A Directive under which every member State must enact identical national laws prohibiting all high-risk AI systems outright
  • B. A Regulation which sorts AI systems into risk categories and imposes obligations proportionate to the category a system falls in
  • C. A non-binding Council Recommendation which is modelled entirely on the OECD Recommendation on Artificial Intelligence
  • D. A treaty protocol which permanently exempts all AI systems deployed by public authorities from any compliance obligation