AI a potential foreign security threat, Ethics committee tells House

A Parliamentary committee is calling for checks of artificial intelligence use by foreign actors and holding online platforms accountable for false or misleading information. These are among the 22 recommendations the Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics made in its latest report, tabled in the House of Commons Tuesday. It is also calling for an increase in digital literacy among Canadian security agencies. It seeks changes to the Access to Information Act to reflect that the Act applies in a culture of openness and transparency. The study quoted witnesses before the committee who sounded the alarm about the influence of AI on security. Former CSIS agent Michel Juneau-Katsuya told the panel the rapid development of the new technology will soon present a challenge to the government. It could enable foreign powers to go on the offensive and more easily identify targets to attack. Raphaёl Glucksmann from the European Parliament said we are not at the stage yet, but could be very soon. “He said he had visited the NATO Centre of Excellence in Riga, where he saw the progress made in AI and its ability to build campaigns of incredible complexity, in two minutes, without having to hire a single employee,” the report noted. Dan Stanton, another former CSIS manager, pointed out that the national security policy has not been updated since 2004. It must take into account how the situation has changed in two decades. Glucksmann called on the government to crack down on misinformation on online platforms. But Gabrielle Lim of the University of Toronto countered that in countries where such legislation has been introduced, it has been employed to silence dissent and stifle dissident voices. She urged engagement with the owners of the platforms such as Meta Platforms Inc. and Alphabet Inc. Lim and Cheuk Kwan, co-chair of the Toronto Association for Democracy in China, called for the establishment of a national telephone hotline to report harassment or intimidation by foreign actors. The committee did not address that suggestion directly but did recommend that the government strengthen reporting mechanisms. The Conservative MPs on the committee issued a minority report that took some of the issues further. They mentioned that defeated Tory MP Kenny Chiu, who testified before the panel, blames Chinese interference for his loss. The Liberal who won the riding, BC’s Parm Bains, sits on the ethics committee and took part in all of the hearings. This is a conflict of interest, the Conservatives maintain. –Reporting by Paul Park at ppark@thewirereport.ca and editing by Jenna Cocullo at jcocullo@thewirereport.ca

AI a potential foreign security threat, Ethics committee tells House

News | October 25, 2023

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AI a potential foreign security threat, Ethics committee tells House

News | October 25, 2023

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