The growing use of artificial intelligence (AI) raises complex ethical and legal concerns that will be examined in “Bracing for Impact: The Artificial Intelligence Challenge,” a one-day international conference on Friday, Feb. 2, organized by IP Osgoode, Osgoode Hall Law School of York University’s intellectual property law and technology program.
The conference, which takes place at the Law Society of Ontario, Donald Lamont Centre, 130 Queen St. W., Toronto, from 8:45am to 4:45pm, will feature a group of internationally renowned AI experts who will discuss some of the fundamental questions that arise when machines start to think for themselves.
The risks and opportunities that AI presents for ethics and public policy, intellectual property and commercialization, cybersecurity, international risks, and social good are among the topics that conference panelists from government, industry and academia will address.
“The conference is designed to bridge the gap between different disciplines and fields and drive the conversation forward about how governments should prepare for and react to the impacts that AI will have on Canadian society,” said Professor Giuseppina D’Agostino, founder and director of IP Osgoode. “Canadian governments must move quickly in order to set out a vision for the future of AI that will position this country as a world leader and destination of choice for companies looking to invest in artificial intelligence and innovation.”
D’Agostino noted the Bracing for Impact conference is aligned with the Canadian federal government’s commitment to fund “a Pan-Canadian Artificial Intelligence Strategy for research and talent” that will cement the country’s position as a world leader in AI. The strategy, announced in the 2017 federal budget, will serve to attract and retain top academic talent in Canada, increase the number of post-graduate trainees and researchers studying artificial intelligence, and promote collaboration between Canada’s main centres of expertise in Montreal, Toronto-Waterloo and Edmonton. The program will be administered through CIFAR, the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research. The Ontario government has also followed suit to invest in AI and position the province as a leader in this emerging space.
Osgoode experts Professor D’Agostino, Professor Carys Craig, Professor Emeritus Jean–Gabriel Castel, Visiting Professor David Lepofsky, Adjunct Professor Bob Tarantino and PhD candidates Aviv Gaon and Ian Stedman will be joined at the Bracing for Impact conference by Ian Kerr (U Ottawa), Ryan Calo (U Washington), Ronald Cohn, MD, (SickKids), Deirdre K. Mulligan (UC Berkeley), Maya Medeiros (Norton Rose Fulbright,LLP), Dov Greenbaum (IDC Herzliya), Carole Piovesan (McCarthy Tétrault LLP), Alexandra George (UNSW Sydney), Roy Keidar (Yigal Arnon & Co., former Israeli legal advisor for the National Security Council), Ann Cavoukian (Ryerson U), Victor Garcia (ABC Live Corporation), Matthew Castel (Orion Legal Group and Logos LP), Jutta Treviranus (OCAD U), Brandie M. Nonnecke (UC Berkeley) and Guy Seidman (IDC Herzliya).
The conference organizing committee acknowledges the sponsorship of conference partners, York Centre for Public Policy & Law and The Zvi Meitar Institute at IDC Herzliya, and conference supporters, the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR), McCarthy Tétrault LLP, VPRI Office at York University and The Lassonde School of Engineering. The conference is also funded by a Social Sciences & Humanities Research Council Connection Grant.
For more information about “Bracing for Impact: The Artificial Intelligence Challenge,” including the full agenda, visit the conference website.