Last week we were honoured to host a virtual talk by Alex Tveit on the past, present and future of the AI landscape. Entitled Navigating the AI Frontier: How AI Will Impact Yukon’s Industries, this session focused largely on ethical issues related to AI and how we can develop AI technologies in a more inclusive way.
After giving an overview of what AI is, Alex discussed how quickly it had integrated into our digital systems at various levels. He presented the idea that we shape technology and that it shapes us in turn, creating a dialogue between us and technology. He posited that including diverse voices, insights and perspectives into the development phase will help ensure that new technology broadly serves our communities, which is especially important with regards to AI because of the scalability, complexity and adaptability of AI tools. Alex went through some specific AI use cases and how AI creates unique challenges and opportunities. For example, Khan Academy is an online learning tool which used their own knowledge base on how to teach math to children in order to train an AI-powered online tutor and implemented it with awareness of the safety concerns for children engaging in online technologies. He also highlighted Indigenous-led AI programs for language reclamation, preserving Indigenous knowledge, combating climate change and addressing health issues in rural communities. Excitement about the potential of AI must also be tempered with awareness of its ethical challenges and Alex claimed that addressing these ethical issues will be most effective if diverse voices are included early on in the development process. This will ensure that advancements in AI are human-centric and equitably implemented.
Alex gave a very brief introduction to the Tech Stewardship and AI Stewardship programs which he helps to administer, offering access to these programs to those in attendance. Additionally, Alex works to build inclusive ecosystems for development, both nationally and globally, through the Sustainable Impact Foundation. He also partners with Community Foundations of Canada to explore how emerging technologies and digital infrastructure can redistribute power, value flows and resources across society.
We are very grateful to Alex for taking the time to share his insights on this complex issue! We will be delving deeper into this topic and more during our AI + Data Learning Series, coming up March 4th to 9th. Check out our events page for more information and to register!
