Ada, AlayaCare, Hootsuite, and Unbounce are all rolling out new AI products.
Tech community experts and leaders support federal legislation to regulate artificial intelligence (AI) in Canada.
The open letter in support of Bill C-27 comes just as new research shows that technology adoption is on the rise among Canadian businesses. More than a third (37%) are using AI today.
Large Canadian tech companies such as Unbounce, Hootsuite, Alayacare, and Ada have all rolled out new AI innovations in recent weeks amid growing market hype for emerging technologies.
A KPMG study found that one-third of Canadian businesses are using AI, less than half the number in the United States.
Startups are using AI to help with everything from content creation to customer service to staff scheduling. Naomi Goldapple, AlayaCare’s senior vice president of data and intelligence, explained that the decision to use AI is about making things faster and easier for customers. This sentiment seems to convey many of the reasons companies use AI.
The letter was coordinated by Mila, a Montreal-based AI research institute led by Yoshua Bengio, scientific director of Mila and IVADO and professor at the University of Montreal. In addition to Bengio, signatories include Julien Billot, CEO of Scale AI and Next AI, Sam Ramadori, CEO of Brainbox, and Valentine Goddard, Founder and Executive Director of AI Impact Alliance.
The liberal government introduced Bill C-27 in 2022. The proposed Artificial Intelligence and Data Act (AIDA) would protect Canadians by ensuring that high-impact AI systems are developed and deployed in a manner that identifies, assesses, and mitigates risks is intended for harm and prejudice.
The law outlines criminal prohibitions and penalties for using illegally obtained data for AI development. It also establishes a framework to prohibit the reckless introduction of AI to cause harm or commit fraud.
“Unless parties work together to advance AIDA by the summer, there will be significant delays in having a regulatory framework in place to guide businesses and protect Canadians,” the signatories wrote. increase. “In short, the window is closing rapidly and further delays in action would be out of sync with the speed at which the technology is being developed and deployed.”
The 76 signatories confirm that AI offers positive development potential. The authors of the letter said: “There is no doubt that AI offers enormous potential for economic growth and social opportunity, including addressing some of the most pressing health and environmental challenges of our time. there is no.”
But they softened it with a caveat: “While these developments are impressive, it’s important to recognize that AI systems pose risks that need to be taken seriously and addressed quickly.”
The signatories identified potential harms associated with AI as discrimination, prejudice, misinformation, mental health effects (particularly in children’s mental health), and disruption to the labor market.
“And the pace at which powerful AI systems continue to be developed is likely to create other significant risks that could significantly increase current risks,” the signatories added.
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The letter’s authors strongly encouraged political representatives to support the bill. They also expressed concern about the time it takes for the bill to pass through the House of Representatives.
Adoption of this technology is growing really fast in Canada and may increase further. According to a new KPMG study, one-third of Canadian businesses are already using AI, less than half the number in the United States, where 72% of businesses are using the technology.
Canadian organizations are lagging behind their US counterparts, especially when it comes to generative AI, said Benjie Thomas, Canadian managing partner for advisory services at KPMG Canada.
The findings are based on a survey of senior business and technology leaders at large corporations in Canada and the United States. This study evaluated the use of AI. KPMG claims that AI is giving companies an ever-increasing competitive advantage. Generative AI is a special type of artificial intelligence that uses algorithms to generate content rapidly, but the scope of artificial intelligence is much broader.
The survey reflects a letter from technology leaders and academics calling for responsible AI. According to the study, only 43% of Canadian organizations using AI have implemented responsible AI frameworks (versus 72% in the US), and half of those said their organizations strictly enforced them. We believe we are compliant (70% in the US).
“Generative AI is powerful when used correctly and responsibly, and can make your business more efficient, productive and competitive,” said Thomas. “Canadian businesses that are not adopting AI today may be at risk of falling behind, especially as their competitors south of the border continue to make progress in this area.”
But there are signs that Canadian companies are integrating new technologies into their products and platforms, with AI doing everything from content creation to employee scheduling.
Landing page and AI-powered conversion optimization software startup Unbounce has launched URL to Ads. This is what we call a first-of-its-kind AI tool that allows marketers to generate relevant ad copy across multiple platforms simply by inserting a URL. website or landing page.
Unbounce CEO Felicia Bochicchio told BetaKit in 2021 that 2022 will be a pivotal year for the company.
Related: AI regulation is coming. What is Canada’s approach?
Hootsuite has launched an AI-powered content generator called OwlyWriter AI. This tool leverages Generative Pre-trained Transformer technology (GPT) and rapid engineering. The latter is one of many AI large-scale language learning models currently available, like the model underlying Chat-GPT. According to Hootsuite, the company’s Content He Generator will inspire social content ideas, generate new formula-driven text, transform web content into social posts, and deliver top performance with a few simple prompts. It aims to rewrite posts that demonstrate.
Ada adds a new suite of generative AI tools to help businesses instantly resolve complex customer inquiries across channels. The AI-powered customer service automation startup says phone support remains the most popular and costly customer channel. Nonetheless, Ada has expanded its platform to include generative AI and voice capabilities, allowing clients to automate across an array of channels.
AlayaCare, a home care software company, says its new Visit Optimizer will help home care organizations increase workforce efficiency and enhance caregiver scheduling for better client care and outcomes. . Visit Optimizer is a feature developed by his AlayaLabs team, the R&D arm of the startup, that uses algorithms, machine learning and AI for the AlayaCare Cloud platform.
According to AlayaCare, the Visit Optimizer application automates caregiver scheduling through available client visits, removing the manual guesswork in scheduling and reducing mileage, travel time and wait times to improve the patient experience. Improve.
As the pace of AI integration into businesses accelerates, signatories supporting Bill C-27 said: Providing a practical and robust legal framework will help Canadian businesses to operate in line with upcoming requirements in many other jurisdictions, including Europe, the United Kingdom and the United States. ”
The letterwriter added: And a responsible AI system that protects human rights. ”
