The Council of Canadian Academies (CCA) has recently reported that Artificial Intelligence (AI) would transform science and engineering and drive innovation in the country.

Indeed, the Council declared that AI had the possibility to bring new opportunities to Canada’s science and engineering sector by extending scientific understanding beyond the limits of human abilities. By focusing on AI, Canada will be able to expand research and talent as well as better integrate knowledge and skills across various industries.

Yet, it is essential to address the social and ethical implications of AI in order to avoid deepening existing inequities and human biases. As AI will be creating new engineering and scientific processes with minimal human involvement, the issue of data governance, intellectual property, and societal risks will need to be taken into account.

Hence, the National Research Council of Canada has asked the CCA to look into the legal, regulatory, ethical, social, and policy challenges of deploying AI technologies so as to enhance scientific and engineering research design and discovery.