Quebec needs a law for AI as quickly as possible, report says

The provincial government needs to consider making major changes to its school curriculum and labour laws to prepare for the disruption artificial intelligence will cause in Quebecers' everyday lives, according to a report released on Monday.

That report, which is 165 pages long, comes from an advisory group, the Conseil de l'innovation du Québec (CIQ), which recommends innovation strategies to the government.

It released 12 "priority" recommendations and 25 complementary ones. 

Its top recommendation is for Quebec to adopt, as quickly as possible, a law to regulate the use of artificial intelligence.

The group looked at six themes:

• Framework of governance for AI.
• Investments in research and the private sector.
• How the government uses AI.
• AI's impact on the job market
• AI's impact on society, including democracy, the environment, arts and culture.
• Quebec's role within AI's international framework.

Governments around the world are scrambling to adapt to the endless possibilities — good and bad — and the potential for disruption that come with AI. Last year, prominent leaders in the field issued a call for a six-month moratorium on the development of AI technologies, citing the danger they pose to democracy and other aspects of daily life.

A legal framework and provincial strategy for AI would help better protect Quebecers from its dangers and "make sure citizens know when they are interacting with artificial intelligence" and be able to make informed decisions, said the CIQ's executive director, Luc Sirois.

During a news conference on Monday, the CIQ and the province's economy minister stressed the importance of making sure AI was used ethically while not stifling its potential, especially for private businesses.

"We want a framework, but we don't want that framework to slow innovation," said Quebec Economy Minister Pierre Fitzgibbon, who was accompanied Monday by Sirois and by Éric Caire, the province's minister of cybersecurity and digital technology. 

In addition to a law, the report also recommends the creation of an independent body that will oversee that law's application.

The group is also urging the province to adapt curriculums from kindergarten until the university level to ensure that they strengthen students' digital literacy and knowledge of AI, "most notably to increase their ability to use AI efficiently and to think critically about it."

Other recommendations in the report include:

• Reviewing existing labour laws to make sure they reflect the existence of AI.
• Investing "significantly" in various types of AI-related research.
• Increase support for businesses in that field.
• Increase the computing power that Quebec companies and research teams have access to. 

According to the report, the CIQ heard from nearly 250 experts before drafting its recommendations.

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