Justin Trudeau is pitching 'AI for Good' as an alternative to 'AI for Bad'

A long-distance call to The New York Times

Canada’s reputation as a hotbed of AI technology was the focus of the latest Hard Fork podcast, hosted by Casey Newton and Kevin Roose, whose guest explained why it’s worth investing in. Justin Trudeau calls himself a “science nerd and geek” whose early absorption of Isaac Asimov books is reflected in his current obsessions:

“I’ve always been fascinated by the intersection between technology and real life… how we take things for granted—the big transformations—from one Industrial Revolution to the next, and how rapidly the pace of change is going.

“Thinking about that stuff while I'm trying to build a fairer, more just, more equal society for everyone, is a natural bridge for me.”

After showing off their collection of Canadiana—including a CBC belt buckle and a bottle of Wayne Gretzky's 99 Proofwhiskey—the hosts shouted out Canada’s world leaders in foundational AI research, including Geoffrey Hinton and Yoshua Bengio (a.k.a. “The Godfathers of AI”) and Ilya Sutskever, the recently former chief scientist of OpenAI. In order to keep young leaders from leaving Canada, Trudeau noted the $2.4 billion in tech funding in the recent federal budget. It’s a pitch to develop of an AI ecosystem in Canada that isn’t only about profits, but the evolution of civilization—and advancing artificial intelligence for the betterment of society.

“If we are going to make sure we're keeping Canadians safe—AI for good, done by the good people, with thoughtful ways, with careful rigorous oversight and transparency—is going to be a very powerful tool to counter the AI for bad that we know is going to be out there.”

Trudeau concluded the interview by touting the merits of government regulation rather than solely relying on the private sector. He warned against relying on AI technologies from countries who may not have Canada’s best interests in mind, and praised oversight and transparency in regulation. He referred to AI for good vs. AI for bad, an ominous foreboding that makes me think of Young Justin flipping through I, Robot, imagining what his own place might be in this brave new world.