This is a special post for quick takes by abramdemski. Only they can create top-level comments. Comments here also appear on the Quick Takes page and All Posts page.
Canada is doing a big study to better understand the risks of AI. They aren't shying away from the topic of catastrophic existential risk. This seems like good news for shifting the Overton window of political discussions about AI (in the direction of strict international regulations). I hope this is picked up by the media so that it isn't easy to ignore. It seems like Canada is displaying an ability to engage with these issues competently.
This is an opportunity for those with technical knowledge of the risks of artificial intelligence to speak up. Making such knowledge legible to politicians and the general public is an important part of civilization being able to deal with AI in a sane manner. If you can state the case well, you can apply to speak to the committee:
which study you want to participate in (Challenges Posed by Artificial Intelligence and its Regulation)
who you are and why the committee should care about what you have to say
what you want to talk about
indicate what language(s) you can testify (english/french) and virtually vs in-person
Luc Theriault is responsible for this study taking place.
I don't think the 'victory condition' of something like this is a unilateral Canadian ban/regulation -- rather, Canada and other nations need to do something of the form "If [some list of other countries] pass [similar regulation], Canada will [some AI regulation to avoid the risks posed by superintelligence]".
Here's a relatively entertaining second hour of proceedings from 26 January:
AFAIK, to be included in the report, the written testimony[1] would have to be sent this week, ideally before Thursday.
1. ^
They likely don't have more capacity for live participation.
2Soapspud
Not sure how this study on AI risks came to be. But to address your point about whether there is anything going on in Canada: AI Governance and Safety Canada (AIGS) has been coordinating advocacy and offering policy recommendations around AI safety for a few years now. Two of the witnesses, Andrea Miotti and Wyatt Tessari L'Allié, mentioned in Steven McCulloch's comment are from AIGS. One of the witnesses from the ETHI proceedings is Wyatt Tessari L'Allié of AIGS.
(Correction: Andrea Miotti is from Control AI, not AIGS.)