Work, democracy, culture and the environment are the four areas that will be most affected by artificial intelligence, a new report says.
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Quebec should move fast to adopt a framework law dedicated to the deployment of artificial intelligence while modernizing labour regulations and social policies, a new report says.
Titled Ready for AI, the 165-page document was released Monday by the Quebec Innovation Council, a non-profit organization, after about nine months of consultations and public forums that involved about 250 experts and 1,500 people. Its 12 main recommendations aim to ensure the responsible and ethical development and use of AI in the province.
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As AI use spreads, more and more experts are sounding the alarm to highlight the risks associated with an uncontrolled development of the technology. Last spring, more than 1,100 executives, thinkers and researchers published an open letter urging a pause in the development of large AI systems because of risks that humans could gradually lose control of civilization.
“Artificial intelligence is playing an increasingly important role in all spheres of society,” Quebec Economy Minister Pierre Fitzgibbon said Monday during an online press conference. “Its applications and potential repercussions are far-reaching and difficult to imagine.”
While Quebec is encouraging companies to adopt and use AI to be more competitive, “we have to do it the correct way,” he added. “We have to know AI well to supervise it well.”
AI “needs a legal framework that’s adapted to a new reality,” added Quebec’s chief innovator, Luc Sirois, who oversaw the report’s production. Given the speed at which AI is spreading and its multisectoral and trans-border nature, “we need new ways of doing from a legislative point of view.”
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Authors of the report are also urging Quebec to delegate responsibility for the application of the framework law to an authority that’s independent of the executive branch.
Giving such powers to an outside body “will guarantee an efficient, effective, agile and uniform implementation and supervision” of AI, Sirois said. “An independent authority that’s equipped with specialized expertise can better meet the complex challenges posed by AI. It can act rapidly, intervene when needed, ensuring the protection of citizens and the flexibility that’s required by a constantly changing environment.”
Quebec’s government “takes note of these recommendations,” Fitzgibbon told reporters. The various ministries concerned will analyze the report and implement its recommendations, he added.
Cybersecurity Minister Eric Caire, who also took part in the press conference, said that his ministry — together with the Justice Ministry — has begun a review of Quebec’s legislative framework. He didn’t elaborate.
The report released Monday identifies four key areas that will be affected by AI: work, democracy, culture and the environment.
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Although integrating AI into the workplace promises to boost productivity, it could also trigger substantial job losses by making some professions obsolete. A World Economic Forum study released last year estimated that 14 million jobs, or two per cent of current employment, could disappear by 2027 because of AI.
Labour laws and social policies should be modernized to mitigate this risk, the Quebec report’s authors conclude.
“We want to prevent the rapid transformation of the working world because of AI from accentuating social inequalities and slowing down the social and professional acceptability of AI’s deployment,” Sirois said.
Since AI also amplifies misinformation, steps should be taken to protect democracy, the innovation council says. So-called generative AI, which can easily produce text, images, audio and video clips, is particularly risky.
With this in mind, the council is calling on the government to strengthen Élections Québec’s capacity to study the impact of AI on the integrity of the electoral process and on citizen participation. Efforts should also be made to protect Quebec democracy against the harmful effects of certain uses of AI, and to explore how the technology could be used to support democratic deliberation, the report says.
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“There is real danger, and not only with deepfakes and misinformation,” Sirois said. He cited “the ability of artificial intelligence to be unstoppable in interacting with citizens.”
AI’s effects also extend to culture. Technology’s ability to transform creation and distribution means that Quebec will need to modernize copyright laws to protect artists and improve the discoverability of Quebec cultural content on digital platforms, the report says.
While AI offers potential in the fight against climate change, its environmental impacts — such as greenhouse gas emissions and contaminations linked to the extraction of rare metals — must be evaluated and curtailed, the report says. Quebec is therefore urged to support research into the environmental impacts of AI and to develop methods for assessing its ecological footprint.
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Training will be crucial if Quebecers want to cope with the nascent technological revolution, the report also says.
“Quebec must prepare its population for artificial intelligence,” Sirois said. “From primary school to continuing education, we must encourage a mastering of the technology, critical thinking and the human competencies of the 21st century. Informing on the issues of AI, reinforcing the digital literacy, and adapting educative, academic and training programs all through life is a must.”
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