A federal government policy briefing on generative artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT warned that giving the public access to such technology could further hatred for Canada’s political leadership and threaten plans for a green transition of the economy.
Policy Horizons Canada, the Canadian government’s official think tank, delivered a briefing titled The Future of Generative AI: What could we see give years following the launch of ChatGPT? in May. Last week the document was published to the Government of Canada Publications website.
The document delves into implications generative AI technology would have for Canada at large in areas such as infrastructure, the economy and government.
“Generative AI could unleash scientific innovation, raise productivity, and change the way people find information. These technologies are also likely to create disruptions and challenges for multiple policy areas,” wrote report authors.
One of the key warnings related to content production and processing issued by Policy Horizons Canada was that such technology would allow for the “democratization of high-quality content production” which could “undermine social cohesion.”
“(Generative AI) also brought concerns over filter bubbles, misinformation, extremism, and election interference. With generative AI, individuals will soon be able to create low-cost, professional-quality entertainment content,” warned the briefing.
“This could give rise to a flood of new amateur content unbounded by the norms set by established media production outlets. For example, this could lead to viral high-quality feature length films expressing misinformation, grievances, and hatred against political leaders, immigrants, or women.”
Policy Horizons Canada also fretted about the impact wide-scale generative AI use would have on Canada’s IT infrastructure and how it could potentially compete with plans for a green transition.
Competition would be a result of more critical minerals used for green tech being instead devoted towards the expansion of AI technology.
“Many areas of Canada could still attract data centre investors in the short term, but the need to access strategic resources may compete with the green transition,” read the report.
“Economic pressure to expand data centres may also compete with a transition to green energy. This is because data centre hardware uses many of the same strategic minerals found in solar panels, electric batteries, and other green tech.”
