CEIMIA in action: A look back at our latest events – July to October 2024

CEIMIA, a key player committed to the responsible development of artificial intelligence, has participated in several major events this past quarter. Discover an overview of our contributions and highlight moments from these gatherings:

Last July, CEIMIA was invited to take part in a round table discussion at the “Rencontres Pro de La Percée”, organized in conjunction with the Nuits d’Afrique international festival. The theme of the event was “AI, Recommendation and Musical Discovery in the Age of Automated Playlists”.

This day provided a good opportunity to present our ongoing work on discoverability in the music industry, conducted in collaboration with the MITACS program and LATICCE.

The first part of the day was devoted to two workshops:

• Categorization, musical semantic research, new taxonomy models;
• Enhancing the value and discoverability of the French-speaking musical heritage.

During the afternoon, in addition to CEIMIA’s roundtable, another panel discussion addressed the following topic: “The International Advocacy for Access and Discovery of a Greater Diversity of Music from the Francophone World on Global Digital Platforms.”

The day concluded with a networking cocktail reception and a free concert offered by the organizers.

The “Rencontres Pro de La Percée” provided CEIMIA with an opportunity to enhance its visibility and forge new collaborative opportunities with key players in the music industry.

In July, India hosted the mid-year meeting of the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI). For this occasion, CEIMIA was invited alongside INRIA, member countries, international experts and industry representatives to present the results of the latest innovation exercise organized by the GPAI’s expert support centers in Paris.

This strategic reflection session, held last May, enabled government representatives and experts to work together in order to co-design AI solutions responding to concrete issues raised by member states. CEIMIA was thus able to demonstrate its expertise in applied AI and responsible innovation to numerous industry players, as well as to engage in open discussions on the risks of social impacts associated with the large-scale deployment of AI. 

In doing so, we have reaffirmed the importance of responsible planning and implementation of AI to minimize the risks and maximize the benefits for our society.

This forum was the first gathering including representatives of the major research centers and organizations contributing to AI policy and governance research in Canada.

Its objective: to facilitate collaboration and identify common challenges. Participants explored together concrete strategies aimed at improving our collective efforts to shape the AI policy and governance landscape in Canada and Quebec.

The agenda revolved around presentations by the organizations, discussions on current and future AI needs, as well as the challenges and opportunities associated with developing policies for this technology within our jurisdictions. Finally, it focused on the next steps for better AI governance in our country.

In September, CEIMIA took part in the AI Policy Forum organized by the Partnership on AI (PAI) in New York. During this event, we were able to discuss the issues of international governance and interoperability between different ecosystems, as well as the importance of maintaining an ethical and inclusive development of AI, despite its exponential growth.

A number of other themes were also at the heart of the discussions: 

• AI’s impact on the future of work and the skills needed for tomorrow’s workforce; 
• Global AI initiatives and international collaborations.

The latest AI reports and impact studies, including those produced by the UN, the Singapore government and PAI were also presented.

For the 2024 edition of this leading event, held in Amsterdam on October 9 and 10, our Executive Director, Sophie Fallaha, joined experts Jeannette Gorzala and Bernhard Gademann, to address the crucial subject of Deepfakes, disinformation and the impact of AI on democracy during a panel moderated by Prof. Dr. Claes de Vreese.

Their exchanges highlighted:

• The need for education at all levels, including within the public sector, for a better understanding of the challenges and risks posed by AI in the democratic process ;
• The importance of media education and work on critical thinking, to combat misinformation and deepfakes;
• The role that technology has to play in mitigating the spread of misinformation.

These events demonstrate CEIMIA’s commitment to promoting responsible, inclusive, and beneficial AI that aligns with our democratic systems. We will continue to actively participate in discussions and initiatives that shape the future of artificial intelligence and our societies.