The House of Lords Artificial Intelligence Committee will be
holding evidence sessions to consider the approaches taken by
Germany and Canada towards artificial intelligence.
The Committee will be exploring issues with the witnesses such as
what is distinctive about the German and Canadian approach to
artificial intelligence (AI), and what role their respective
governments are seeking to play in the development and use of AI.
The Committee will also be asking whether there is a need for
broader international collaboration on AI and the challenges it
may present society.
These are among the key issues the House of Lords Select
Committee on Artificial Intelligence will be asking two witnesses
on Tuesday 5 December 2017.
At 3.30pm the Committee will take evidence
from Professor Wolfgang Wahlster, CEO and Scientific
Director of the German Research Centre for AI (DFKI).
Professor Wahlster has published more than 200 technical papers
and 12 books on user modelling, spoken dialogue systems, mobile
and multimodal user interfaces, the semantic web, as well as the
internet of things and services. The German Research Centre for
AI (DFKI) is Germany’s leading AI research centre.
Questions the Committee is likely to ask include:
- Germany is the second largest centre for AI development in
Europe after the UK. Does Germany have particular advantages or
disadvantages when it comes to capitalising on AI?
- Germany is suffering from a shortage of skilled AI
researchers and developers. How is it addressing this problem?
- DFKI has approximately 500 researchers and administrators,
and 400 graduate students from more than 60 countries. What, and
how effective, is DFKI’s role in developing and utilising AI
within Germany?
- A new data protection law (Bundesdatenschutzgesetz) was
passed this year. What implications will this have on the
development and application of AI in Germany?
At 4.30pm the Committee will take evidence from Dr
Alan Bernstein, President and CEO of the Canadian Institute for
Advanced Research (CIFAR).
Dr Bernstein has received a number of awards and honorary degrees
for his contributions to science, including the 2008 Gairdner
Wightman Award. CIFAR was founded to take on the big challenges
facing our world including population health, the Earth’s
evolution, early brain development, artificial intelligence and
the effect of institutions on prosperity.
Questions the Committee is likely to ask include:
- Companies such as Google, DeepMind and Facebook have recently
opened major AI research centres in Canada. Why are AI companies
interested in basing themselves in Canada?
- Earlier this year the Canadian government announced a major
investment of CAD $125 million (approximately £77.5 million) in
the Pan-Canadian Artificial Intelligence Strategy. What problems
is this aimed at solving?
- CIFAR has 404 researchers from 16 countries, including 20
from the UK. How is it developing and utilising AI in Canada?
- The Canadian AI field has historically suffered from brain
drain to the US. How does Canada's tech industry see itself in
relation to the United States?
These evidence sessions will take place at 3.30pm, via
videoconference, on Tuesday 5 December 2017 in Committee Room 2
of the House of Lords.
In October the Committee published the written evidence it
accepted into the inquiry. Click the link below to read this
evidence, as well as the transcripts of the Committee’s previous
oral evidence sessions:
http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/lords-select/ai-committee/publications/
