Tech pioneer warns Canada must stop 'standing still' on digital sovereignty
· Toronto Sun
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OTTAWA — It’s a long-overdue “starting gun” that, while ambitious, requires follow-through.
Reaction to the government’s long-awaited AI strategy , announced by Prime Minister Mark Carney on Thursday, has been wide-ranging — with Canadian AI pioneer and University of Alberta Professor Jonathan Schaeffer telling the Toronto Sun the government needs to make sure AI for All doesn’t end up collecting dust.
“We haven’t heard all the details, but if the government can actually execute on this strategy, and do it the way the document talks, with the appropriate funding, with the appropriate speed, then we have a real opportunity to do great things for this country,” he said.
“Standing still, which is a typical Canadian strategy, doesn’t work … we’re either in the game to win or we’re a non-player. With this strategy, we’re in the game to win.”
Canada’s new AI strategy, according to the government, includes increasing commercial AI adoption, protecting privacy and data, generating 250,000 new AI-related jobs, and generating about $200-billion in GDP gains.
“This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for us to compete with all of the big players in the world, and compete on even footing,” he said.
“The strategy is long overdue, but now is better than later … It’s got enormous breadth, it documents everything that needs to be done. That in itself is a concern, because there’s just so much that needs to be done.”
Strategy doesn’t address copyright, say news publishers
Canada’s news publishers, however, said critical issues are still missing from the document.
“The fact that the word copyright doesn’t appear once in the 50-page strategy is a miss when it comes to protecting Canadian culture, voices, and stories,” said Paul Deegan, CEO of News Media Canada.
“The strategy does not offer protections for journalistic content, nor does it mitigate the societal risks of the brazen theft of IP by the AI companies, which is happening on an industrial scale.”
They maintain the government should ensure measures exist to prohibit content and data mining from Canadian news publications.
“In short, the Government of Canada should stop doing business with businesses — whether they are foreign or domestic — that steal from Canadian news businesses and other players in the creative economy,” News Media Canada said.
“In the face of misinformation, disinformation and threats to Canadian sovereignty, identity, and unity, there is an urgent need to protect and control Canadian trusted, verified IP and to keep its value in Canada for Canadians.”
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Sovereignty should be at the centre of any Canadian AI strategy, Schaeffer said — saying that Canada is a world leader at developing AI technology, but terrible at commercializing it, leaving us at the mercy of American tech giants.
“We are still dependent upon, to be cynical, the multi-trillion dollar U.S. companies that provide many of the services that we have in Canada,” he said.
“We don’t have digital sovereignty. If heaven forbid the U.S. put tariffs on digital products and services, we could be in a lot of trouble in this country.”