This is a AI Forum at C2 Montreal. This is sponsored by Element AI.
Yoshua Bengio, Element AI
Philippe Couillard, Premier of Quebec
The Ethical and Economical Questions Surrounding AI
In this talk, one of the most prominent researchers in artificial intelligence will discuss AI, economic development and ethics.
Speaker:
Yoshua Bengio, Co-Founder, Element AI and Director, Montréal Institute for Learning Algorithms
Philippe Couillard, Premier of Quebec – Do we have enough funding? The answer is always no
Montreal is a hub with 9000 students
Most important is education and other investments
People come to Montreal because of the ecosystem
Government sent a clear signal which was key to developing and starting the AI hub
Need to work with startups and others
Today focusing on PHd AI training. Cannot create enough experts to meet the business needs.
Need to focus on undergrad as well.
Need to keep researchers in the lab
Computational needs are huge and cannot compete with compute of Google and other international competitors.
China’s government money is a challenge.
Businesses have to work with startups
Quebec government will partner
There is the issue of neutrality
Today AI science is coming out of labs.
Need to keep researchers focused on unsolved problems
Some projects are unprofitable in the short term but needed for the long term. For example some in healthcare and medicine.
In Europe, tomorrow the GDPR is being applied.
We have to define where Quebec can play a role. We are 8 million and not 70 million like France.
Governments have to look into the social impacts
There will be a backlash from society if the negatives are not mitigated
AI is here already on our phones.
We must remain a diversified and inclusive society, that is fundamental
Social inequality and labor. Is there a plan? Will citizens be involved in the discussion.
The answer is training, education and democracy
We need to avoid polarization and rethink our social net
the speed of change in employment and technology
We need to rethink education with generalists (not just specialists) but adaptive generalists
We will still need biologists, teachers and others as well.
Want doctors to still talk to the patient but with AI help for diagnosis
Some areas will be very vulnerable to AI
Personal care should not be automated.
Brian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 million readers per month. His blog Nextbigfuture.com is ranked #1 Science News Blog. It covers many disruptive technology and trends including Space, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Medicine, Anti-aging Biotechnology, and Nanotechnology.
Known for identifying cutting edge technologies, he is currently a Co-Founder of a startup and fundraiser for high potential early-stage companies. He is the Head of Research for Allocations for deep technology investments and an Angel Investor at Space Angels.
A frequent speaker at corporations, he has been a TEDx speaker, a Singularity University speaker and guest at numerous interviews for radio and podcasts. He is open to public speaking and advising engagements.