Canadians' trust in AI is a challenge for Carney's strategy

Mark Carney's Liberal government wants Canada to adopt artificial intelligence more widely, but it faces a public trust problem that could slow that effort. In a new AI strategy released this week, the government says trust will be central to its plan while also acknowledging risks such as deepfakes, unsafe chatbots, misinformation and threats to privacy. The article says Canadians are among the least trusting of AI in international surveys, and domestic polling shows many people are wary of its possible harms. Those concerns include malicious use, misinformation and the loss of personal data. The government says it plans to respond with measures such as updates to privacy law, new online safety rules, more support for the AI Safety Institute and greater transparency requirements for AIgenerated content. Policy experts quoted in the piece argue that regulation and oversight will be important if Canada wants people to see AI as safe and useful.