Governments globally are exploring how to foster the development of fair, safe, and human-centered AI. But the task of regulating AI is a difficult one: users naturally want to be protected from risks, but at the same time, no one wants to be left behind as new and better technology is developed. How to strike a balance between innovation and safety remains unclear, both in theory and in practice. Professor Castets-Renard has been awarded a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair (CRC) in International and Comparative Law of Artificial Intelligence, which will delve into questions at the intersection of law, ethics and AI regulation. This new Chair seeks to fill in existing gaps in AI governance while opening up new conversations in international and comparative law that can help to identify meaningful ways forward for safely integrating AI into our lives.
Professor Castets-Renard is bringing a series of original and innovative strategies to this endeavour. First, she seeks to document and analyze the risks created by AI on a large scale. The socio-economic, technological and geopolitical risks of AI technologies are widespread, and understanding how they impact our lives today offers no guarantee that we will know their potential impacts tomorrow. The speed at which these technologies are advancing makes it difficult to adopt legal frameworks that won’t quickly become obsolete as AI deployment evolves. The Chair will seek to build a database to map and understand this vast multitude of risks.
From there, the Chair will compare existing AI regulatory frameworks from around the world, and specifically explore the ethical, legal and technical standards that are being used. This research will carefully examine the effectiveness of these frameworks in addressing the real and potential risks identified in the first phase of the program.
The Chair will then put these standards to the test in empirical case studies, which will provide insight into the impact of AI – and AI regulation – on individuals and on enterprises seeking to integrate AI technologies. AI has the potential to reinforce pre-existing social vulnerabilities, so testing how well frameworks can protect an individual’s privacy and dignity is essential. And understanding how companies are trying to leverage AI technologies to maximize efficiency is crucial to knowing where the technology may be headed in the future. Professor Castets-Renard will ultimately seek to use this empirical research to create recommendations for legislators, regulators and other stakeholders.
As and expert in law and AI with a long track-record of successful research ties to both Canada and Europe, Professor Castets-Renard is uniquely positioned to carry out work of this scope and importance. Last year, for example, she published an innovative book on artificial intelligence law as an emerging and consequential field of research, which was published in both French and English: Un droit de l’intelligence artificielle : entre règles sectorielles et régime general | Artificial Intelligence Law: Between Sectoral Rules and Comprehensive Regime. Also in 2023, she organized an international colloquium designed to kickstart the creation of a global network of AI experts – an effort to share information and best practices from different regions and subsequently support legislative efforts around the world. And earlier this fall, she was appointed to a prestigious roleat the forefront of the development of the European Commission’s first General-Purpose AI Code of Practice. Specifically, she was named as a Vice-Chair of the Working Group on Transparency and Copyright-Related Rules.
The Canada Research Chairs Program invests up to $311 million per year to attract and retain some of the world’s most accomplished and promising minds. Chairholders aim to achieve research excellence in engineering and the natural sciences, health sciences, humanities, and social sciences. The CRC Program is a tri-agency initiative of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). Tier 1 Canada Research Chairs (CRC) are awarded to outstanding researchers acknowledged by their peers as world leaders in their fields. A Tier 1 CRC carries a term of seven years and is renewable once.
Congratulations to Professor Castets-Renard on this exceptional achievement!