This text is part of the special section Artificial Intelligence and Cybersecurity
Researchers in ethics and law are working to better regulate the development of technologies using artificial intelligence (AI) from a legal point of view and to stimulate ethical reflection within the industry.
Technologies using artificial intelligence are evolving very quickly. But it is clear that the legal framework governing the development of these technologies is lagging behind, notes Vincent Gautrais, professor at the Faculty of Law of the University of Montreal and holder of the LR Wilson Chair on technology law. information and electronic commerce.
“We are living in wonderful times; This paradigm shift is extraordinary! he exclaims about the digital revolution. But as a citizen, I think it is important to question the good things and the disasters that this can also cause. »
The lawyer gives as an example the use of AI by the Edmonton police to profile criminals or the Cambridge Analytica scandal, this British firm having exploited the data of millions of Facebook users without their consent.
“For 30 years, since the generalization of digital technology in the 1990s, we, as lawyers, have been guilty of passivity,” laments Mr. Gautrais on the phone. We let it happen, we regulate very little, there aren’t that many laws. In terms of trade, we have a regime that is astonishingly passive and lax. »
“We are trying to do some catching up,” he continues, noting the great disparities in efforts in this direction in the West. On the other side of the Atlantic, Europe recently proposed a regulatory framework for AI based on risk analysis, while in the United States, “there is nothing, actually. exception of White House memoranda,” illustrates Mr. Gautrais.
In 2017, the Montreal Declaration proposed a series of recommendations for the development of AI to be done responsibly. In Canada, federal and provincial authorities are updating regulations regarding the protection of personal information, with Bill 25 in force for a year and Bill C-27, currently under discussion in Ottawa. In September, new requirements of Bill 64 — modernizing legislative provisions regarding the protection of personal information — will also come into force in Quebec.
With his team and in collaboration with small businesses and organs of the Quebec state, Vincent Gautrais strives to transpose ethical principles into a legal framework adapted to business realities. These recommendations could ultimately guide the adoption of other laws governing the use of technologies using AI. In particular, he participated in the development of a guide to good practices in AI and a model for evaluating factors relating to the circulation of data. These documents were published in February and March by the International Observatory on the Societal Impacts of AI and Digital Technology.
“In the principles of transparency, responsibility, security, there are certain ethical principles which are quite easy to transpose into law,” he comments, regarding this slow process full of pitfalls. It’s a fairly transitional period. The law is a big liner. It takes time. »
A new research chair
At the University of Quebec at Trois-Rivières (UQTR), new projects are also being launched to better integrate ethical principles in businesses, thanks to the new UQTR (Junior) Research Chair in the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence . This is directed by Clayton Peterson, professor in the Department of Philosophy and the Arts.
“Reflection on the ethics of AI will often pose a problem for us as soon as we arrive at concrete cases,” explains Mr. Peterson, regarding the importance of developing ethical principles more applied to the realities of the industry. . There are moral and ethical dilemmas that arise. It happens that the standards we have thought about contradict each other, and we arrive at an imbroglio. »
His research chair aims in particular to build new bridges between ethics and industry, notably through cross-sector collaborations in research and education.
“Often, when we look at the path of engineering or computer science students, there are no ethics courses. There is a lack of knowledge, training and awareness on this subject, notes the researcher, with regard to one of the two axes of the chair, which consists of filling this gap. If these people can be made aware, in the long term this would make it possible to predict malicious uses and it would make it possible to alleviate certain problems. »
Through internships, students who will be called upon to work on new technologies will be able to engage in ethical reflection, while ethics students will be able to deepen their knowledge of the realities of the industry.
“In research, we will use statistical tools and programming languages to carry out philosophical reflection,” explains Mr. Peterson, regarding the second axis of the Chair. It is to trace the limits up to which the algorithm can operate. »
Theater to rethink AI
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