(Montreal) Prime Minister Justin Trudeau did not take any questions from reporters following a public discussion on artificial intelligence (AI) where he spoke only in English on Friday at the One Young World summit at the Palais des congrès de Montréal.
Mr. Trudeau was joined by Yoshua Bengio, Scientific Director and Founder of Mila, the Quebec Artificial Intelligence Institute, for this discussion hosted by Mila President and CEO Valérie Pisano.
The discussion focused on the benefits and dangers of AI and was particularly aimed at this forum of young leaders from diverse organizations from more than 190 countries.
Isaac Asimov and 2001: A Space Odyssey
The starting point, rather original, was to explore the influence of science fiction on the thinking of the Prime Minister and Professor Bengio on AI. Mr. Trudeau thus mentioned the author Isaac Asimov and his three laws of robotics which have become a reference in artificial intelligence: “A robot cannot harm a human being; A robot must obey humans, except where it conflicts with the first law; A robot must protect its own existence, except where it conflicts with the first law or the second law.”
Yoshua Bengio, who has been warning the world for years now about the potential dangers of AI, instead spoke of 2001: A Space Odysseyby author Arthur C. Clarke, which he said offers “the most scientifically realistic description of how AI would be trained and how things could go wrong.” Returning to the laws of robotics, he recalled its limitations and the possibility of things going wrong. “It’s actually subtle and complicated to make machines that have a moral sense,” he said.
PHOTO RYAN REMIORZ, THE CANADIAN PRESS
Mr. Trudeau was accompanied by Yoshua Bengio (left), scientific director and founder of Mila, the Quebec artificial intelligence institute.
“Clearly, we are continuing to move toward machines that will be on par with us and even far beyond us in many ways,” the researcher warned.
Arrow pointing to Donald Trump
Justin Trudeau took the opportunity to point out to the young people present that they would be the last generation to remember what the world was like before AI, just as his was the last to remember what the world was like before computers and the internet.
It was a good opportunity for him to take a dig at Republican candidate Donald Trump – without ever naming him – by saying that it was easier to be nostalgic about change and to look to the past while wanting to “Make America Great Again”, while it is rather necessary to have an eye towards the future, even if it is “certainly more frightening to dive into the future”.
Yoshua Bengio added that while it is difficult to accept that “the future, in five, ten or twenty years, could be incredibly different from what we know now,” it is young people who are the most flexible and can envision a completely different future. They are the ones, the researcher argued, who can guide the development of AI in order to avoid creating monsters or turning it into a dangerous weapon.
Using AI to protect against AI
But the warning remains, the prime minister acknowledged, noting that the various players are rushing to create more and more tools without thinking about what they will become. “We do it because we can, we create these fantastic new technologies without thinking about what it will mean in five years and even less in 50 years,” said Mr. Trudeau.
Surprisingly, in this context, he concluded his speech by arguing that AI should be developed in a positive light because “the responsible use of AI will be one of the most powerful tools in the world to counter AI used to cause violence, negativity or disinformation.”