Institute on Governance Future Forum Conference

I attended the IOG Future Forum Conference.

The Agenda provided for my section of the program:

A) Prohibitions on AI and Data Openness: Where Should AI be Banned?

Artificial intelligence is set to become one of the most pervasive technologies in use, with wide
implications for industry, government and society at large. While AI is very adaptable can be used in
many settings, it is an open question as to whether AI-driven should be used everywhere or if there are
reasons to seek the selective prohibition of AI. Presenters will highlight the risks, benefits and
development trajectory of AI, while making the case for its selective limitation or unapologetic
pervasiveness.
Mark Robbins, Senior Researcher at the Institute on Governance (Moderator)
Branka Marijan, Program Officer at Project Ploughshares
Bryce Mulligan, Neuropsychologist at The Ottawa Hospital
Vladimir Drkulec, President of the Chess Federation of Canada
Luke Stark, Post-Doctoral Researcher with Microsoft Research Montreal
Key Questions: Should AI be permitted everywhere and if not, what conditions make an AI prohibition
necessary? Does government have the sophistication or capacity to enforce limitations or bans on the
use of AI? Is it technically possible to prohibit the use of AI?

I spoke on the Turk, Kasparov vs. Deep Blue, Alpha Zero, chess databases, chess engines and cheating at chess. I got some significant positive feedback from the audience, the other panel members and the moderator and organizer of the conference. I prepared too much and wound up throwing away half of my material and concentrated on the AI, Engine, Cheating aspects though I did comment on the ideas of the other panelists. I portrayed chess as the sharp edge of the spear which had experienced some of the growing pains that would come to all other aspects of our society as a result of AI.


The event was a bit higher level than what I expected as there were many embassies represented and there was at least one government minister there who talked about bill C-59 which deals with Canadian spy agencies among other things. There was also a former spy and expert on privacy and surveillance who was offset by a guy that hated the liberal and conservative efforts with both C51 and the new C59. I'm glad I wore a tie and sports coat.


The other panelists on my section were all doctors. One was with project plowshares and she was worried about killer robots. The second guy was a researcher from Microsoft interested in banning facial recognition software. The third was a clinical psychologist who talked about the effects of AI and social media.


The breakfast speaker talked about Alpha Go Zero, Alpha Zero and Deep Blue. He was a major industry expert on AI. The lunch speaker was from Homeland Security and he talked about the Russian attempts to influence the U.S. 2016 election and internet trolls.

I went up on Monday, stayed in an AirBnb and drove back to Windsor arriving home about 1 am after getting pulled over by a policeman when I was about five kilometers or so from home. I didn't realize that it was a policeman at first as he came up very quickly behind me before turning on his lights. My license plate after some 40 years was faded and my car matched the description of a suspicious vehicle. The policeman was very polite and professional upon realizing that I wasn't the person he was looking for. The Tecumseh OPP branch officers are great.