Enter Prompt: Navigating AI in the World’s Largest Democracy arrives at a critical juncture in India’s technological trajectory, as the widespread adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) is right on the horizon. As the novelty of AI begins to wear off, practical use cases and the impacts they may have on adoption become increasingly important questions. This book undertakes the task of situating AI within India’s social, economic, political, and bureaucratic realities, offering a timely and grounded intervention in the country’s AI discourse.
The book serves as an excellent primer for readers unfamiliar with the technical aspects of AI, explaining its implications without being weighed down by jargon. Bhattacharyya and Sreekumar present a policy-oriented and socially conscious examination of AI’s possible impact in reshaping both society at large and individual lives. Rather than treating AI as an abstract technological force, they frame it as a socio-political phenomenon embedded in existing structures of power and governance.
The chapters are organised thematically, with each focusing on the impact of AI on different sectors and social groups. Some chapters address wider societal concerns, while others examine interpersonal and individual dimensions.
From a business perspective, AI is presented as both an opportunity and a source of asymmetry. Larger firms, the authors argue, are quick to adopt AI and train their employees in its use, enabling them to benefit from automation, data-driven decision-making, and platform-based scalability. In contrast, small and medium enterprises often cannot afford the necessary licences or have access to the training required to operate AI-based software. Thus, in this framing, AI risks reinforcing market concentration rather than broad-based innovation. The authors further argue that ethical design and long-term social trust must be prioritised over short-term efficiency gains.
One of the most compelling chapters examines AI’s impact on policy and governance. While AI-assisted public administration is expected to improve efficiency in welfare delivery and service provision, it also raises concerns around opacity, accountability, and bias, particularly in the justice system. Given that Large Language Models (LLMs) train on pre-existing internet data, their outputs can reflect dominant social biases. The authors note that while an 80% accuracy rate may be accessible in commercial contexts, a 20% margin of error in judicial decision-making can affect millions of lives in a country like India. Similar concerns are raised in the defence sector, where AI-enabled surveillance and targeting depend heavily on data quality, often derived from unreliable open-source material.
Inequality emerges as a recurring and unifying theme throughout the book. The authors demonstrate how AI systems often replicate existing social hierarchies, particularly in contexts marked by caste, class, and regional disparities. Automated decision-making in areas such as credit, employment, and public services can entrench exclusion when built on biased or incomplete data. The book thus reframes AI not as an equalising force but as a technology that reflects underlying power relations.
In its discussion of defence and women’s rights, the authors maintain a critical yet balanced tone. AI’s strategic value in national security is acknowledged, alongside ethical risks related to surveillance and militarisation. Similarly, gendered impacts—ranging from biased algorithms to labour displacement—are treated as central, not peripheral, to ethical AI governance. Overall, Enter Prompt offers a measured, policy-relevant, and normatively grounded account of AI’s role in India’s democratic future.