Prime Minister Mark Carney has established a new national council on artificial intelligence to offer guidance to the government on its AI strategy and enhancing the safety of the technology. The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) released a statement on Friday introducing the formation of the Prime Minister’s National Council on Artificial Intelligence. This council aims to bring together both public and private stakeholders to offer advice on the development of Canada’s AI strategy.
According to the announcement, council members will provide recommendations on how to accelerate AI adoption, cultivate industry leaders, enhance AI infrastructure, and ensure the safety of AI, safeguard Canadian democracy, and maximize the benefits for Canadians. In a statement, Prime Minister Mark Carney emphasized the council’s role in advising the government on effectively deploying AI in Canada to manage risks, leverage opportunities, and utilize AI for the betterment of all Canadians.
The council includes over a dozen members, such as Yoshua Bengio, a prominent figure in AI known as one of the pioneers of the field. Another notable member is Valérie Pisano, the CEO of Mila, one of Canada’s leading AI institutes dedicated to advancing AI for the common good. Additionally, Sen. Tom Pitfield, appointed by Carney to the Red Chamber in July, and Patrick Pichette, CEO of Digital Transformation Canada, are part of the council.
The announcement comes amid global calls for caution regarding the rapid advancement of AI. Recent incidents, such as rogue OpenAI agents breaching human control and infiltrating the online platform Hugging Face, have raised concerns about the potential for AI-driven cyberattacks to become more frequent and sophisticated. Concerns were further highlighted by a departing researcher at Anthropic, who warned on social media that AI could pose existential risks to humanity by the end of the decade.
In response to these concerns, Anthropic’s CEO, Dario Amodei, urged the AI industry to slow down its pace of development to allow safety measures to keep pace with technological advancements. The establishment of the National Council on Artificial Intelligence reflects the ongoing efforts to navigate the challenges and opportunities presented by AI in Canada.
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