Vanguard Magazine

Lessons Learned From Canada's Public Sector R ecent investment by the Ca- nadian government into arti- ficial intelligence (AI) shows the concerted effort the na- tion is making to encour- age responsible development and use of AI throughout its economic sectors. The government has earmarked $2.4 billion this year to enhance the country's AI ca- pabilities. Despite the government's best intentions to implement comprehensive legislation on the use of AI, however, progress has been slow. This article will focus on lessons learned from Canada's efforts to create a regulatory framework for AI development and adoption, and the benefits of advanced technologies and humans-in-the-loop (HITL) oversight. Creating AI governance Canada was one of the first countries to propose a law to regulate AI and set the foundation for the responsible design, de- velopment and deployment of AI systems, but has not kept pace with strides made by the U.K. and the U.S. Meanwhile, Parliament continues to work on passing The Digital Charter Implementation Act, Bill C-27, and the "Pan-Canadian AI Strategy." These em- phasize the responsible development and use of AI to benefit society, including ini- tiatives related to AI ethics, transparency, and accountability. In the public sector, the government has issued guidelines for their employees on using AI, emphasizing the importance of transparency. The Canadian government says address- ing concerns about ethical, legal, and so- cietal implications of AI adoption is a top priority. Implementing a strong AI gover- nance framework is pivotal, helping with accountability, responsibility and over- sight throughout the AI development and deployment process. This fosters ethical and transparent AI practices, enhancing trust among the public. There are several steps that can be taken to assess business workflows and identify where AI technology should be utilized. Intelligent automation integrates AI, ro- botic process automation (RPA), large language models, and other cognitive technologies to streamline operational processes and optimize data-driven deci- sions. One of the critical advantages of intel- ligent automation is its robust audit trail, which records every step taken by digital workers and human operators. This digi- tal record helps ensure that government agencies are meeting regulatory require- ments while allowing departments to discover, improve and experiment with automated tasks, business process man- agement, data analysis, and enhanced au- tomations. This transparency is crucial for accountability, allowing any decision to be traced back through the audit log to un- derstand the criteria considered. Solving problems faster AI could be used to streamline citizen services, for instance, such as applying for healthcare or supplemental food ben- efits. By leveraging predictive analytics, AI could identify additional programs for which applicants might be eligible, simpli- fying the process and increasing access to benefits. www.vanguardcanada.com DECEMBER 2024/JANUARY 2025 29 T H E LA S T W O R D B Y J A M E S S P E N C E R Adoption: AI

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