Recent participations from the CEIMIA team – June to August 2023

Between a speech at the European Parliament, a participation at one of the most recognized annual workshops in AI, and two GPAI convenings with Experts, this Summer has been a productive one for CEIMIA and GPAI!

Over the course of the month of June, our Executive Director Sophie Fallaha  was invited to speak at the European Parliament during the 4th Working session on AI regulation:  “How to regulate Artificial Intelligence: Which potential for EU-Canada cooperation?”. In this context, she was able to present the CEIMIA and GPAI, and the main ongoing works and findings on the subject. Her speech articulated around three major points: 

• A reminder of the risks to be regulated
• Key learnings from our CEIMIA project “A Comparative Framework for AI Regulatory Policy”, which compares 5 regulation strategies from leader countries in the area.
• The role of science diplomacy and international collaboration as an enabler of a coherent approach to AI risk management and framing

At the end of the month of June, Lama Saouma, our AI Initiatives Lead, participated in UC Berkeley’s 7th annual Center for Human-Compatible AI Workshop (CHAI). Workshop sessions covered various topics such as AI alignment, well-founded AI, cooperation in AI, and AI governance. Lama also participated in a roundtable discussion aimed at bridging the AI safety and ethics communities. The outcome of this session was a common research agenda to avoid unproductive polarisation in the field.

In June, Thomas, our researcher in residence, was invited by the Université Virtuelle de Côte d’Ivoire (UVCI) to speak at their annual scientific Symposium on AI and metaverse. His keynote  “From Aspiration to Reality in Harnessing Metaverse and AI for Resilient Africa : An Ethical and Responsible Approach” introduced the second theme of the symposium: “The Metaverse in the virtual economy and its impact on the real world”. Thomas articulated his speech around two fundamental questions:

• Whether the aspirations we have for Africa in terms of the uses and purposes of AI and the metaverse really reflect African realities?
• How can we lay the foundations for a technologically resilient Africa, where AI and the metaverse are truly at the service of Africans and their needs?

Watch the recording of the Symposium here

On August 4th, 2023, the first Responsible AI Strategy for the Environment (RAISE) workshop was held online, bringing together experts from the GPAI, the GPAI’s RAISE steering committee, OECD and IEEE representatives, invitees from IPCC, IPBES, and various organizations (academia, industry, international organizations, NGOs). 

The workshop had three main objectives: 

1. Expand RAISE impactful work that advances the GPAI and RAISE missions;
2. Expand RAISE network of specialists and collaborators;
3. Foster an enriching and interactive dialogue.

Invited speakers from various institutions provided an overview of five priority topics of the RAISE program. Here is a summary of what emerged from the discussions.

• Challenges were stressed about data availability tracking and mapping, data transparency and impact measurement. 
• The main obstacles to practical actions implementation which were identified are the lack of fundings, the lack of data accessibility, the lack of communication between key stakeholders and the urgent need for long-term national planifications. Among the solutions suggested are collecting the data directly from the ground, tailoring public policies on regional needs and realities, as well as producing a blueprint based on the Colombian national strategy.
• Finally, RAISE calls upon governments to take action in prioritizing climate and biodiversity preservation in their national policies, along with elaborating long-term strategies with other key stakeholders. Indeed, collaboration is key to face the climate crisis.

On the occasion of the third GPAI workshop organized by India, 150 GPAI Experts, professionals from industry and academia, and representatives of member governments gathered on September 5th to discuss the various projects underway within the Responsible AI Working Group. In turn, the co-leaders of the Social Medias, Regulatory Sandbox, Diversity and Gender Equality in AI, RAISE, and Scaling Responsible AI Solutions projects presented the objectives, work in progress, conclusions and next steps to achieve these goals. This was followed by a Q&A and a discussion session with the audience, aiming to encourage sharing of experiences, feedback on work and potential new avenues for collaboration.