AI 'fearmongering' could harm Canada’s rare opportunity, says top CEO
uncertain
CEO → harm → opportunity
Concerns are 'born from sci-fi stories,' Cohere CEO Aidan Gomez says
The CEO of one of Canada's leading artificial intelligence firms is urging the public not to buy into "fearmongering" — citing the recent uproar over an Anthropic researcher giving more than a 10 per cent chance that AI will end humanity within a decade.
asserted
AI → bear → decade
Aidan Gomez of Toronto-based Cohere says creating new AI safeguards must be balanced against opportunities like lowering the cost of living and advancing medical discoveries.
asserted
creating → base → discoveries
"I think the extinction risk-type talk is fearmongering.
asserted
talk → think → ?
It's born from sci-fi stories and Terminator-like scenarios that can cause a lot of fear, and a lot of misunderstanding and damage," he told CBC News on Tuesday.
asserted
he → bear → Tuesday
It doesn't come from anything.
asserted
It → come → anything
It's like a gut feeling from an individual," he said, referring to the remark on X by Evan Hubinger, alignment science lead at the AI giant Anthropic.
asserted
he → say → giant
That said, Gomez says he agrees broadly with Prime Minister Mark Carney's call for a global, non-industry body to oversee and mitigate AI's — in his view — lesser risks.
asserted
he → say → risks
Speaking on the sidelines of Carney's investment summit in Toronto, he said Canada ranks among the few nations with a "ticket to the AI race on a global stage," next to the United States, China and France — due in part to its early lead in research.
asserted
Canada → speak → research
"We were the ones who invented this technology.
asserted
who → invent → technology
Our taxpayers funded all the research that led to these breakthroughs that have given us this technology.
asserted
that → fund → technology
We should continue to control its deployment around the world.
asserted
We → continue → world
I hope that Cohere can contribute to that on Canada's behalf," he said.
asserted
he → hope → behalf
The company makes generative AI models for businesses, and has deals in place with both the federal government and Bell Canada.
asserted
company → make → government
Gomez was among dozens of Canadian business leaders attending the summit, which aims to attract $1 trillion in new investment to Canada over the next five years.
asserted
which → attend → years
Last Thursday, Ottawa outlined 167 investment projects, in a prospectus obtained by CBC News, which included a $14.5-billion data centre near Medicine Hat, Alta., along with several smaller data centre projects.
asserted
which → outline → projects
On Monday at the summit, Bell Canada announced plans to quadruple the size of a planned AI data centre near Regina.
asserted
Canada → announce → Regina
TD Bank and Scotiabank also on Monday promised a combined $250 billion in financing for growth-oriented infrastructure projects in the coming years, some of which will go to AI.
asserted
some → promise → AI
Carney told investors on Tuesday he intends to prioritize speed and predictability as Canada advances its new investment agenda.
asserted
Canada → tell → agenda
"High standards do not require slow decisions," the prime minister said.
asserted
minister → require → decisions
'A wolf in sheep's clothing'
But Carney's push for speed comes as some of the leaders of America's top AI research firms push for an industry-wide slowdown on development of cutting-edge, frontier AI models.
asserted
some → come → models
In July, hundreds of artificial intelligence agents from OpenAI went rogue, hacking into the online platform Hugging Face, prompting warnings from tech experts about AI systems escaping human control.
asserted
systems → go → control
Dario Amodei of Anthropic, and Sam Altman of OpenAI have recently urged the industry to establish safety guardrails, and xAI owner Elon Musk has endorsed the idea.
asserted
Musk → urge → idea
But Gomez is opposed to that sort of industry-led oversight which, under Amodei's plea, would see U.S. regulators amend antitrust rules so Silicon Valley AI companies could work together to shape government regulation of the industry.
uncertain
companies → oppose → industry
That's more fearmongering, in his view, which he spelled out in a recent blog post.
asserted
spelled → spell → post
Trump claims AI poses no real risk — but even some of his allies disagree
Experts raise fears of more rogue AI swarms after Hugging Face hack
AI researchers 'earnestly believe' it could kill all humans within the next decade, Anthropic employee says
"Using fear under the pretext of protecting the public, these oligopolies are now requesting to bend competition rules and be permitted to dictate the terms for everyone else," he wrote on Sunday.
uncertain
he → claim → Sunday
Gomez prefers the sound of Carney's pitch, which the prime minister described to Bloomberg News on Monday, for a global "technology stability" body to help oversee AI and ensure it is safe.
"
asserted
it → prefer → AI
We want to make sure that it is truly global, and there are paths to contribute to that for many of the countries around the world.
asserted
it → want → world
What we don't want to see is a single country, or pair of countries, dominate the process," Gomez told CBC News on Tuesday.
asserted
Gomez → want → Tuesday
"At the same time, we need to ensure we can get the benefits of this technology, the efficiency boost that can bring down the cost of living for the average Canadian.
asserted
that → need → Canadian
The development of new drugs and cures for different diseases and ailments," he added.
asserted
he → add → diseases
"These are real benefits that we're starting to see come to life thanks to this technology."
asserted
we → start → technology
The Aporia
