Canada is one of the leading countries in terms of artificial intelligence (AI) which is shaping up to be a critical part of the tech-based future. The country however realizes the need for having a regulatory framework to govern AI-related matters just as is the case with any other major sector.
AI has a broad spectrum of applications and if unchecked, could lead to huge problems in the future. It is therefore important to have a system of rules that will help determine the direction of AI in the future and also to ensure that the technology is not exploited for malicious use.
Canada has teamed up with France and the international community to push for moral use of AI. Canada’s Science, innovation and economic development Minister Navdeep Bains and France’s Digital Affairs secretary Cédric O launched an international panel that will primarily focus on AI. The role of the panel will be to promote a moral and human-focused use of AI. The panel will also focus on attracting global partnerships on the technology. The panel will be made up of AI experts from all over the world.
“We need the government, we need the regulation in Canada,” stated Mahdi Amri, Deloitte Canada’s head of AI.
Cédric also commented that having an international platform for AI oversight is a good idea because it will also facilitate the technology’s sustainable development. France and Canada plan to be at the helm of AI regulation through an international collaboration that plans to focus on bringing AI benefits to all citizens.
Canada’s push for AI regulation is aimed at countering malicious use before it begins
Canada’s push for AI comes at a time when the technology has been rapidly gaining popularity as well as mass adoption through household electronics such as TVs and phones. Canada views the lack of a legal framework to govern AI as concerning situation because it paves way for distrust and also undermines provider accountability. One such scenario that is commonly portrayed in movies is a situation where artificial intelligence machines supersede humans and control things such as missiles. Such a scenario highlights the dangers of giving too much control to machines without regulatory measures.
Such a scenario is actually within the scope of modern existing technology. For example, existing machine learning and AI-based computing have the capacity to control entire systems with very minimal human intervention. Such technology might be very dangerous especially if it falls into the wrong hands such as malicious hackers.
The new Artificial intelligence advisory council will advise Canada’s government on the best way to implement AI at the same time take advantage of the economic growth opportunities that it will offer. The panel will also guide the government on how to align AI with Canadian values. The main focus will be to make sure that AI development takes human rights into account, as well as openness and transparency.
Foteini Agrafioti and Yoshua Bengio will co-chair the AI advisory council. Agrafioti is the Chief Science Officer at the Royal Bank of Canada while Bengio is the head of the Scientific division of the Montreal Institute for Learning Algorithms.
