Canadian AI Risk Expert Warns of Impending Superhuman AI Threat
A prominent AI risk expert from Canada has raised concerns about the development of superhuman AI systems. Yoshua Bengio, a leading AI researcher, testified before a U.S. Senate subcommittee, warning that AI capable of human-level intelligence could be just a few years away. He emphasized the need to comprehend the potential risks and establish safeguards against catastrophic scenarios.
Bengio stated that there is a significant probability of superhuman AI surpassing our understanding and control due to its rapid advancement. He stressed the urgency of establishing sufficient guardrails to ensure the safe development and deployment of AI technologies.
These warnings come at a time when Ottawa-based AI company MindBridge secured $60 million in funding for its AI-powered financial risk discovery platform. Despite recent leadership changes within the company, MindBridge aims to continue its mission of utilizing AI to identify financial risks effectively.
In other AI news, retail-tech giant Shopify recently unveiled Sidekick, an AI assistant designed to assist merchants with administrative tasks and customer inquiries. As part of its 2023 Summer Editions, Shopify introduced several new products and updates, including a business credit card in partnership with Stripe and dropshipping-like capabilities through its Shopify Collective offering.
Meanwhile, industry leaders such as OpenAI, Microsoft, Google’s Alphabet, and Anthropic have joined forces to establish a forum called the Frontier Model Forum. This industry body aims to regulate the development of large machine learning models, promote AI safety research, and collaborate with policymakers and academia.
In the Canadian tech sector, a positive outlook on venture funding emerged in Q2 2023. Toronto and British Columbia’s tech ecosystems witnessed a resurgence in funding, while Alberta and Québec experienced significant growth in venture capital investment.
The need for ethical and responsible AI practices has become increasingly important as scammers exploit AI technology to deceive individuals. The ability to distinguish between human-made and algorithm-generated content is crucial to protecting individuals from malicious intent. The Unicode system serves as an existing solution to this challenge.
Looking ahead, the Government of Canada’s Global Hypergrowth Project (GHP) aims to support selected Canadian businesses, including tech unicorns like Ada, Clio, and Lightspeed, in becoming anchor firms with substantial revenues and a significant workforce.
Moreover, Montreal-based RailVision Analytics has developed AI-enabled software to assist locomotive engineers in making small adjustments that can lead to significant fuel savings in diesel-powered trains.
As AI continues to evolve, it is essential to strike a balance between embracing technological advancements and addressing potential risks to ensure the responsible and beneficial use of this transformative technology.
