Canada and France work with international community to support responsible use of artificial intelligence

From: Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada

News release

International Panel on Artificial Intelligence to foster international collaboration and coordination

May 16, 2019 – Paris, France

Realizing the full potential of artificial intelligence (AI) that benefits all citizens requires international collaboration and coordination. Canada and France are working with the international community to create the International Panel on Artificial Intelligence (IPAI) to support and guide the responsible development of artificial intelligence that is grounded in human rights, inclusion, diversity, innovation, and economic growth.

The Panel will be an organization dedicated to artificial intelligence that will bring together many of the greatest global AI experts. It will be a global reference point on AI, fostering international collaboration and coordination on AI policy development.

Today, the Honourable Navdeep Bains, Canada's Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, together with Cédric O, France's Secretary of State for Digital Affairs, made public the Declaration of the International Panel on Artificial Intelligence for discussion, and announced further details on the organizational structure of the Panel.

The Declaration states that participants in the Panel will commit to the following shared values, including in their development, use and adoption of AI:

  • Promote and protect a human-centric and ethical approach to AI, grounded in human rights
  • Support a multistakeholder approach to AI
  • Stimulate innovation, growth and well-being through AI
  • Align efforts on AI with the principles of sustainable development and the goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
  • Strengthen diversity and inclusion through AI
  • Foster transparency and openness of AI systems
  • Foster trust and accountability in AI
  • Promote and protect democratic values, processes and institutions
  • Bridge digital divides
  • Promote international scientific collaboration on AI

Minister Bains and Secretary O announced the Declaration following their participation in the G7 Digital Ministerial meeting. Under the overarching theme of Building Digital Trust Together, ministers reflected on the requirements and values essential in digital innovation and the role that emerging technologies can play in combating inequality.

During the G7 Digital Ministerial meeting, France and Canada received expressions of interest on the IPAI from Germany, Italy, India, Japan, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and the European Union, and will continue discussions with interested participants on the design of the Panel.

The Panel will be formally launched later this year at the Biarritz Summit and will include a steering committee, a secretariat, and working groups, each focused on an identified topic related to AI, such as its technological development or its impacts, including the future of work as well as a Secretariat. The Panel will also convene an annual conference of international AI experts, called the "Multistakeholder Experts Group Plenary."

Secretary O also announced that France would be hosting a "Global Forum on AI for Humanity" on October 29 and 30 in Paris. This event, aimed at informing possible priority areas of work for the IPAI, will assemble experts and stakeholders from around the world, drawn from the public and private sectors, academic and scientific communities, as well as civil society more broadly.

Quotes

"Today's announcement is an important step toward ensuring that AI advancements reflect Canadians' values. In partnership with France, Canada is leading the broader international AI community through the establishment of the International Panel on Artificial Intelligence that, once launched, will ensure that the economic and social benefits of artificial intelligence are shared by all citizens."
— The Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development

"An international platform will be necessary in order to ensure a sustainable development of artificial intelligence and serve humanity as a whole. France has been working hard with Canada in order to make concrete progress in that direction and to onboard other countries, especially within the G7."
— Cédric O, Secretary of State for Digital Affairs for France

Quick facts

  • The International Panel on Artificial Intelligence is a key outcome of the Canada-France Statement on Artificial Intelligence announced by the Right Honourable Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada, and Emmanuel Macron, President of the French Republic, prior to the 2018 G7 Summit.

  • As a first step toward establishing IPAI, Prime Minister Trudeau, Minister Bains and France's Secretary of State for Digital Affairs announced the mandate for the International Panel on Artificial Intelligence at the G7 Multistakeholder Conference on AI in December 2018.

  • Under Canada's 2018 G7 presidency, Canada advanced a common vision on artificial intelligence, which the G7 Innovation Ministers set out in their Statement on Artificial Intelligence and the G7 Leaders also set out in the Charlevoix Common Vision for the Future of Artificial Intelligence.

  • Canada launched a $125-million Pan-Canadian Artificial Intelligence Strategy to retain and attract top academic talent and to increase the number of post-graduate trainees and researchers studying artificial intelligence and deep learning.

  • On March 29, 2018, President Macron presented an ambitious national AI strategy at the "AI for Humanity" summit. This strategy comprises cross-cutting actions (such as research and development training, funding and regulation) as well as specific actions on top priority economic sectors. In total, €1.5 billion of public money will be dedicated to implementing this strategy over 2018–2022.

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Contacts

Dani Keenan
Press Secretary
Office of the Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development
343-291-1710

Media Relations
Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada
343-291-1777
ic.mediarelations-mediasrelations.ic@canada.ca

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