When new technologies enter the world, they must earn trust. How can we create trust in artificial intelligence? A new report from the Certification Working Group (CWG) explores the necessary elements of an ecosystem that can deliver effective certification to support AI that is responsible, trustworthy, ethical, and fair.

What is generative AI? How do large language models work? SRI Policy Researcher Jamie Sandhu lays the groundwork for understanding LLMs and other generative AI tools as they increasingly permeate our daily interactions.

What’s missing from current efforts to regulate artificial intelligence? SRI researchers author a new CIFAR AI Insights Policy Brief on bracing for large-scale economic, social, and legal change—and how policymakers can adapt governance infrastructure to an economy transformed by AI.

There are economic and political incentives for AI companies to create their own set of rules. Alyssa Wong explores the benefits and drawbacks of self-regulation in the tech industry, and highlights the ultimate need for democratic oversight to ensure accountability, transparency, and consideration of public interests.

In a new report published by the Standards Council of Canada, the Schwartz Reisman Institute surveyed the global landscape of AI standards to identify key areas to leverage standards for AI assurance.

How can we harness the economic benefits of AI innovation? In June 2022, the Schwartz Reisman Institute convened a roundtable with the Business Development Bank of Canada to explore how AI can be better used in financial services, featuring panelists from financial institutions, leading startups, universities, and government. The event’s findings have been issued in a new report that details the importance of responsible AI and new approaches to regulation.

Evaluating AI risks is a crucial and complex task, yet policymakers lack tools to effectively investigate potential harms and biases within AI systems. In response, Stanford’s Institute for Human-Centered AI and Cyber Policy Center have launched an AI Audit Challenge that calls for solutions, tools, datasets, or models that enable effective audits of AI systems. The Challenge grew out of an SRI Solutions Workshop on AI governance held in partnership with the Rockefeller Foundation in 2021.

The Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society announces a new partnership with the Toronto Creative Destruction Lab’s AI stream, which provides mentorship and support to start-ups commercializing technologies that enable and expand the ethical use of AI.

A proposed new tool aims to aggregate commercial data to enable a safe re-opening of Toronto’s Financial District. But the project raises questions around usability and privacy, as well as concerns about its value, risks, and feasibility. SRI reports on a Solutions Workshop with findings relevant to broader implications for data sharing and privacy.

AI governance is urgently needed to ensure that its benefits to humanity outweigh its risks of causing harm. AI governance can also help evolve our legal and regulatory systems so they do not impede innovation. “Innovating AI Governance: Bold Action and Novel Approaches” is an ongoing series of workshops developed by SRI in collaboration with the Rockefeller Foundation to address this problem.

AI tools and technologies are steadily being integrated into all aspects of our lives. While AI’s potential benefits are immense, the harms they can cause have led to a lack of trust. A new partnership between AI Global and the Schwartz Reisman Institute, in collaboration with the World Economic Forum, will create a globally recognized certification mark for the responsible and trusted use of AI systems.

Privacy legislation has been instrumental in protecting data rights and data privacy in an increasingly data-driven world. But healthcare is a sector in which increased access to data could have major public benefits—for researchers, patients, and others. Learn more in a new report from the Schwartz Reisman Institute and Diabetes Action Canada on liberating Ontario’s health data for a digital world.