CRL Speaker Series - Dr. Florian Martin-Bariteau

Regulating AI in Canada

As AI systems are becoming widely available, concerns have arisen about safety and liability for faulty AI, and the use of AI to harm others. Similarly, of concern is the lack of transparency, oversight and accountability in how AI processes our personal information, and how those systems are deployed by the administrative state and courts alike.  In the face of the risks for human rights, some jurisdictions have adopted or proposed complex legal frameworks for autonomous systems or have simply banned some AI applications with a high impact on human rights. The current legal frameworks appear inadequate, but how can we ensure appropriate oversight and enforcement?

Canada is beginning to develop new frameworks for AI systems, and the path toward a framework offering appropriate safeguards and algorithmic accountability is long. The talk will discuss how AI systems are currently regulated in Canada, the proposals that died on the Paper Order in January and what could be expected in the coming months, notably as Canada just signed the Council of Europe Framework Convention on AI.
 

About the Speaker:

Dr. Florian Martin-Bariteau (external link, opens in new window)  is the University Research Chair in Technology and Society and the Director of the Centre for Law, Technology and Society at the University of Ottawa, where he is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Law, Common Law Section. A technologist and creative turned legal scholar, his research focuses on technology law, ethics and policy, with a special interest in artificial intelligence, blockchain, quantum science and technologies cybersecurity, whistleblowers and intellectual property.   Director of the AI + Society Initiative, Dr. Martin-Bariteau is also a Faculty Associate of the Berkman-Klein Center for Internet and Society (external link, opens in new window)  at Harvard University, as well as a member of the Nexus for Quantum Technologies Institute at the University of Ottawa.