Canada must regulate AI to protect privacy and human rights: watchdog

OTTAWA - Artificial intelligence must be regulated to protect Canadians' privacy and human rights, a federal watchdog says. In issuing new recommendations for regulating AI Thursday, Canada's privacy commissioner Daniel Therrien said he is calling for legislation to regulate the use and development of AI systems. Such legislation will help to reap the benefits of AI while upholding individuals' fundamental right to privacy, he said in a statement. Therrien said these changes should entrench privacy as a human right and a necessary element for the exercise of other fundamental rights. AI models analyze and try to predict aspects of human behaviour and interests that can be used to make automated decisions about people.