The federal government will introduce its long-awaited AI strategy within days, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Wednesday.
“It’s coming out next week,” Carney told reporters on Parliament Hill.
Artificial Intelligence Minister Evan Solomon initially promised the strategy would be tabled by the end of last year.
The government at first signalled an adoption-focused approach to AI. Critics said the group Ottawa asked to advise it on the technology leaned too much on the perspective of industry and the tech sector.
The public conversation around AI has since shifted to focus more on concerns about safety and social impacts.
Canada also has strengthened relationships with other middle powers that are more pro-regulation than the United States.
Solomon said earlier this month the strategy will consider the technology’s impacts on the labour market.
He also has said recently that Canada must strike a balance between AI cheerleaders and those who are completely opposed to the technology.
In its spring economic statement, the government outlined six pillars of the upcoming strategy.
They include previously announced priorities like introducing new privacy and online safety laws, building sovereign compute infrastructure, supporting the growth of Canadian AI companies and co-ordinating with international allies.
The document also said the strategy would provide AI training and education for Canadians and that the “gains of AI will come from putting it to work across the Canadian economy and developing pro-worker, industrial AI technologies.”
Picture Courtesy: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Spencer Colby
