The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the Quebec Artificial Intelligence Institute jointly published a book today at Mila that discusses the critical need for greater governance of artificial intelligence (AI) in the face of unheard-of technological transformation.
Missing Links in AI Governance is a collection of 18 articles on AI governance written by academics, members of civil society, entrepreneurs, and policymakers at a time when technological advancements offer new opportunities in science, business, and society while also posing moral dilemmas and regulatory difficulties.
The book examines issues such how AI affects LGBT and indigenous people, how Southern nations must be included in global politics, and how AI may foster socially positive innovation. It sketches out potential remedies to encourage an ethical, inclusive, and human rights-respecting AI development.
The authors also condemn the increasing centralization of decision-making power in the development of AI systems and biases embedded in them, as well as the lack of transparency and accountability in the industry, and they caution against the use of AI in potentially harmful contexts like autonomous weapons or the manipulation of digital content for social destabilisation.
Yoshua Bengio, professor at the University of Montreal, founder and scientific director of Mila, scientific director of IVADO, and Canada CIFAR AI Chair, and Kate Crawford, research professor at the University of Southern California Annenberg, senior principal researcher at Microsoft Research, and a leading authority on social, political, and economic AI, had a conversation today in Mila’s Agora to celebrate the book’s launch.
They talked on how AI has the power to speed up scientific progress, particularly in the fields of medicine and environmental science. The advantages of current technological advancements, the drawbacks and biases of existing AI systems, and the requirement for ethical and regulatory control of the industry to guarantee that the technology serves mankind as a whole were also covered.
Speeches from members of UNESCO and the Quebec government came before this discussion on the current and future of AI. The video has been rebroadcast on Mila’s YouTube account.
The Fonds de research du Québec and the Ministère des Relations internationales et de la Francophonie du Québec each contributed a portion of the funding for this programme.
“This book’s publication at this pivotal juncture in AI advancement makes us incredibly proud. We hope that these pages will stimulate thought and serve as a decision-making tool to ensure a more moral, responsible, and inclusive technological growth since the decisions we make as a society over the coming years will significantly impact the future of humanity.” -Valerie Pisano, CEO and President of Mila
“This book gathers a variety of occasionally upbeat, occasionally disagreeable, but always pertinent views on the present and future of AI. By underlining the need for legislative frameworks to properly contextualise the development of the technology, to take advantage of the benefits it presents, and to mitigate the hazards it poses, it gives a tool for considering the role we want AI to play in our lives and in the world.” Co-editor and Executive Director of AI for Humanity, Benjamin Prudhomme, Mila
The responsible development of AI as well as the defence and advancement of human rights in the digital era depend on finding the gaps in AI governance. Dr. Tawfik Jelassi, assistant director-general for information and communication at UNESCO
“We are honoured to provide financial assistance for this international endeavour, which is co-directed by UNESCO and Mila, the industry leader in Quebec for artificial intelligence (AI). The Government of Québec acknowledges the extremely strategic importance of AI for Québec’s economy and global influence and is working to promote Québec’s competence in this area to UNESCO and its 193 member States.” — Michel Bonsaint, member of Canada’s Permanent Delegation to UNESCO and representative of the Québec government
