Notables - December 12, 2018

By Craig Bamford

Montreal Declaration on Responsible AI released

Welcome to Notables for December 12th, 2018!

First this week is ethics and AI.

After a long consultation process, the Montreal Declaration on Responsible AI is finally ready. The discussion about how to handle the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been ongoing ever since AI stopped being science fiction, and started becoming the engine driving modern computing forward. The formal process of regulating the use of AI kicked off with the Forum on the Responsible Development of Artificial Intelligence on November 2-3 in Montreal, where a draft declaration was created for public discussion. On December 5, after extensive public consultations, the final declaration was released.

At the core of the declaration is the question of what to do with intelligent machines. They identify serious potential issues. Intelligent machines "can restrict the choices of individuals and groups, lower living standards, disrupt the organization of labor and the job market, influence politics, clash with fundamental rights [and] exacerbate social and economic inequalities". They run the risk of "reducing society to a series of numbers and ruling it through algorithmic procedures", which will leave numerous people worse off, or even in crisis. The declaration seeks to prevent that by giving AI developers a "moral compass" to help them push the technology in positive directions.

It sets out a variety of principles to help create this moral compass. AI "must permit the growth of the well-being of all sentient beings"; must respect people's autonomy, protect "the bonds of solidarity among people and generations", exercise prudence and responsibility regarding future development of AI, maintain "social and cultural diversity" and help promote "a just and equitable society", among other goals.

The Declaration has already gathered hundreds of signatories. To view the declaration yourself, click here; to join the other signatories, click here.

Second National Conference on Innovation set to begin

Second this week: an innovation conference in Ottawa.

Invest Ottawa, the organization that assists Ottawa-based companies start up, scale up, find partners and customers, and even "cut through red tape", is reinforcing its focus on attracting and developing innovative enterprises. That's why they're hosting the second annual Canadian National Conference on Innovation on December 12-13. After their successful conference last year, they're looking to annualize, and focus on reinforcing Ottawa's role in the growing Canadian innovation ecosystem.

The focus this year is celebrating women's innovation, as well as creating what they call a "blue zone" of innovation. In fact, there is a general focus on diversity; the program includes a discussion on the contributions of First Nations peoples, and a panel on encouraging the next generation of female innovators. In addition, they're looking at provincial innovation prizes, the role of "formal and informal content", an analysis of the Queen's University Innovation Centre, intellectual property, cybersecurity, the "Cutting Edge in Artificial Intelligence", and key trends in technology innovation management.

Speakers include Celine Auclair of the First Peoples' Innovation Centre, Michael Tremblay, President and CEO of Invest Ottawa (and former Microsoft Canada Vice-President), Prof. Larisa Shavinina, Professor of Project Management and Innovation at the Université du Québec en Outaouais, and André Leduc, Vice President of the Information Technology Association of Canada.

Manning Foundation Reinventing Award Structures

Third this week: the Manning Innovation Awards are changing, and you can be a part of it!

For the last few years, the Ernest C. Manning Awards Foundation has been handing out awards to Canadian innovators, focused on technological, medical and social innovations. Previous award winners include Dr. Daniel Drucker, who created a new therapy for Short Bowel Syndrome; Explorer, a tool which brings together geographic information systems to analyze and visualize data on dangerous infectious disease threats; and the Nix Color Sensor, which is a small ping pong ball-sized device that can accurately measure the colour of any object.

But, as the innovation landscape changes, the Manning Awards Foundation has apparently decided that it needs to change as well. They're announcing a Request For Proposals (RFP) regarding the program. They seek proposals that will reinvent the program, and "emphasize that all proposals will be seriously considered". Whether it's acquisition, transfer, mergers, redefinition, shared operations; they're willing to at least entertain the ideas of all comers. They add that "our purpose is simply to find the best way in the future to reinvent, operate, enhance and expand" the program.

The winning proposal will receive a cash award of up to $300,000 "to enable the respondent to successfully launch their program". To read the RFP and learn how to submit your proposal, click here.

Notables is a weekly collection of interesting science, technology, investment and innovation reports, press releases and other news bytes from around the web. Notables are curated and written by Craig Bamford.

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The views and opinions expressed in this piece are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of RE$EARCH MONEY.