Author: Catharine Tunney

Canada has its first-ever minister of artificial intelligence in veteran broadcaster and newly elected Toronto Centre MP Evan Solomon.So what does that job exactly entail?When asked what Solomon’s mandate and responsibilities will be, a spokesperson from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) pointed to the Liberal platform as “the best bet for now.”The platform, released a little over a week before the April 28 election, suggests Solomon will have a massive job touching nearly every aspect of the economy and with national security considerations.His boss Mark Carney has called for sweeping use of artificial intelligence to create the “economy of the future,” incentivize businesses to adopt AI and build the infrastructure needed to support all that work. “Artificial intelligence is the key to unlocking productivity, higher paying jobs and new prosperity that will benefit everyone,” the document promises.Adegboyega Ojo, Canada Research Chair in Governance and Artificial Intelligence (AI) at Carleton University, said the new cabinet position — and the platform — sends the right signal.”Prime Minister Carney is walking the talk,” he said.”They’ve done their homework in terms of where the issues are and what needs to be done.”  When it comes to the federal government, the platform calls for AI to slash repetitive tasks and reduce costs in the public service.And it calls to set up an office of digital transformation, something Solomon — whose full title is minister of artificial intelligence and digital innovation — will likely oversee.”This is about fundamentally transforming how Canadians interact with their government, ensuring timely, accessible and high-quality services that meet Canadians’ needs,” notes the platform. “This could mean using AI to address government service backlogs and improve service delivery times, so that Canadians get better services, faster.”Ojo said AI-powered virtual assistants, or chatbots, could easily help Canadians get basic information from the government in any language they need.”In a way that is really comprehensive, even more comprehensive than what, you know, a human agent at the other side may be able to [do],” he said.Behind the scenes at the public service, he said AI could speed up translation, rewrite technical documents in plain English, analyze documents for legal compliance and draft briefing notes.Platform calls to ‘supercharge’ AI adoptionIndustry watchers say one of the biggest challenges for Solomon will be getting the private sector to adopt AI.Benjamin Bergen, president of the Council of Canadian Innovators, said Canada has a reputation as a leader in AI research, but is a laggard when it comes to use and commercialization.Carney’s platform promises to introduce a tax credit to incentivize AI adoption by small and medium-sized businesses and connect Canadian researchers and startups with businesses across the country to “supercharge adoption.””The key piece here is, we’ve got this artificial intelligence, but then how do we actually ingest it into our society, not only from a government lens, but also from a private-sector lens as well? said Bergen. Bergen pointed to John Deere, a farming company best known for its green-and-yellow tractors which has become a leader in farming AI and data analytics. It uses technology to tend to crops more effectively, monitor field conditions and determine what maximizes yields.Many computers that power AI are housed in data warehouses like this one, and require a lot of electricity. It’s why so many experts say building up AI infrastructure is important.