The A.I. Arms Race: Should We Be Worried?

Presented by thePanel in partnership with Intuit

28 MAR

2018

OTTAWA

Recent breakthroughs in Artificial Intelligence promise to make our lives more comfortable and prosperous. But they also mean that AI has become an important source of economic and military power.

The United States and China are jockeying for dominance in the field. There are fears of a new arms race and the spread of so-called "killer robots". Some go so far as to worry that we will inadvertently stumble across an AI so powerful and beyond our control that it puts all of humanity at risk.

Are these threats serious or just science fiction? Should we try to regulate AI research and ban its military applications? As a leader in AI, what should Canada be doing?

Join thePANEL, as well as top AI experts and policy thinkers, as we debate the impact of this groundbreaking technology on international politics.

Moderator

Carl Meyer

National Observer

Carl Meyer is a National Observer correspondent based in Ottawa and a member of the Canadian Parliamentary Press Gallery.

From 2009 to 2016 he worked at Hill Times Publishing as a reporter and editor, including as managing editor for its foreign policy newsweekly, Embassy.

Speakers

FEATURED INDUSTRY EXPERTS

Stephanie Carvin

Associate Professor, International Relations, Norman Paterson School of International Affairs

Stephanie Carvin is an Assistant Professor of International Relations at the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs. Her research interests are in the area of national security, foreign policy, critical infrastructure protection and technology. Stephanie holds a Masters and PhD from the London School of Economics and her most recent book is Law, Science, Liberalism and the American Way of Warfare: The Quest for Humanity in Conflict” (Cambridge, 2015) co-authored with Michael J. Williams.

Minister

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William A. Carter

Deputy Director, Technology Policy Program, Centre for Strategic and International Studies

William A. Carter is the Deputy Director of the Technology Policy Program at CSIS, and leads the Center’s research on artificial intelligence. His research focuses on international cyber and technology policy issues, including artificial intelligence, cyber conflict and deterrence, surveillance and privacy, data localization, financial sector cybersecurity, and law enforcement and technology, including encryption.

Designer

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Erin Hunt

Program Coordinator, Mines Action Canada

Erin Hunt is the Program Coordinator at Mines Action Canada. Mines Action Canada is a co-founder and a Steering Committee member of the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots. Erin has been working in humanitarian disarmament in various capacities since 2006 and doing public education on the topic since 2003.
Erin is involved in the ongoing diplomatic efforts to prohibit autonomous weapons systems (killer robots) and has spoken on the topic in Canada and at the United Nations. Erin has a master’s degree in Human Security and Peacebuilding from Royal Roads University.

Shopify

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Eddie Daghelian

Vice President, Worldwide Software Client Architects and Client Success, IBM Canada

Eddie Daghelian leads IBMs software architect team responsible for helping clients in all industries transform their business in the age of new AI and disruptive technologies. All companies are faced with learning and applying these technologies to build new business models for competitive advantage. Eddie believes these disruptive technologies must be understood and leveraged within our educational system and supported by institutional and government investment to drive economic growth.

Coincidently, Eddie has a son studying Computer Science at University of Toronto, and interns this summer at IBM leveraging neural networks for business value. Eddie has a computer science degree from York University, and an MBA from Schulich School of Business.