Science and Research committee  I have to correct you: the Pan-Canadian Artificial Intelligence Strategy is an initiative of the federal government. In Quebec, we have been lucky to have a relatively visionary government that decided to double down. So at Mila, the artificial intelligence institute where I work, the investment comes two thirds from the provincial government and one third from the federal government.

Science and Research committee  Yes. One thing government already does in some of the programs that are funding academia is force the industry partners and academic partners to work together for the funding to happen. I think this is a good part of the recipe. I would add something that is currently missing, especially in the funding that we do for the private sector like the superclusters and so on.

Science and Research committee  AI is one technology that is becoming more and more powerful as we develop it more. There are other technologies—like biotechnology, for example—that can have immensely positive uses as we develop them in society, but can also be misused. It's very important for governments to regulate, incentivize or intensify the development that is going to happen to make sure that those efforts work for society in general, for the benefit of democracy, for the benefit of our well-being and so on.

Science and Research committee  Really, you need both, and they play different roles. The initial phases of research cannot be completely directed, because it's not clear ahead of time where the moon shots are going to be. The curiosity-driven research helps us figure out what the moon shots are and what directions are worth having a significant investment.

Science and Research committee  Madam Chair, I would like to tell you about why I think such moon shots are important and, more specifically, where I think our government should focus and the kind of effort that it should focus on.

Science and Research committee  Madame la présidente, The successes of science that have ended up having transformative impacts on our society arose thanks to funding of curiosity-driven research, which also trains the needed talent, followed by mission-oriented R and D. As an example, in my own career, I've worked on deep learning that has fuelled the current AI revolution.

Information & Ethics committee  It's interesting. This question is related to the issue of the imbalance of power between the user and large companies in the case of how data is used. You have to sign these consents. Otherwise you can't be part of, say, Facebook. It's similar in the way the products are defined remotely.

Information & Ethics committee  I think I already mentioned the security and military applications that deserve more attention. We have to act quickly on this, to avoid the kind of arms race between countries that would lead to the availability of these killer drones. It would mean that it would be very easy for even terrorists to get hold of these things.

Information & Ethics committee  Yes. That's right.

Information & Ethics committee  It's usually pretty obvious if you're dealing with a machine or a human, because the machines aren't that good at imitating humans. In the future, we should definitely have regulations to clarify that, so that a user knows whether they are talking to a human or a machine.

Information & Ethics committee  I think we have to go in that direction. It's not going to be perfect because there will be countries that don't embark, or some countries might be able to water down the strength of these things. Even some regulation there—and in particular, here we're talking about international regulations—is better than none, by far.

Information & Ethics committee  No, I don't think there is. I would agree with Mr. Wagner that we want sector-specific regulations. That's also a protection for innovation—to make sure we find the right compromise that makes sense both ethically and technically.

Information & Ethics committee  Yes.

Information & Ethics committee  You're asking a good question, but I don't think that there's a general answer. This requires the use of experts, who will review ethical and moral issues, along with technological and economic concerns in each relevant area. The goal is to establish guidelines to both foster innovation and protect the public.

Information & Ethics committee  Yes, it's quite possible. Your example of a machine that assigns the work already exists. For example, today, couriers who carry letters from one end of the city to the other are often guided by systems that use artificial intelligence and that decide who will carry a given package.