Recent investment by the Canadian government into artificial intelligence (AI) shows the concerted effort the nation is making to encourage 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 capabilities.
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, development 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 emphasize the responsible development and use of AI to benefit society, including initiatives 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 addressing concerns about ethical, legal, and societal implications of AI adoption is a top priority. Implementing a strong AI governance framework is pivotal, helping with accountability, responsibility and oversight 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, robotic process automation (RPA), large language models, and other cognitive technologies to streamline operational processes and optimize data-driven decisions.
One of the critical advantages of intelligent automation is its robust audit trail, which records every step taken by digital workers and human operators. This digital record helps ensure that government agencies are meeting regulatory requirements while allowing departments to discover, improve and experiment with automated tasks, business process management, data analysis, and enhanced automations. This transparency is crucial for accountability, allowing any decision to be traced back through the audit log to understand the criteria considered.
Solving problems faster
AI could be used to streamline citizen services, for instance, such as applying for healthcare or supplemental food benefits. By leveraging predictive analytics, AI could identify additional programs for which applicants might be eligible, simplifying the process and increasing access to benefits.
One of the biggest pain points for government operations has been with Canada’s public servants pay system. Among the problems, tests were not properly conducted and discrepancies between government requirements and software vendor delivery resulted in widespread payroll errors.
Some employees received double paychecks, while others went unpaid for months. Calculating pay for temporary acting roles proved complex, leading to further inaccuracies.
Public Services and Procurement Canada has turned to intelligent automation to address these issues. It is using a unified platform to deploy a digital workforce tasked with performing data validation checks to identify errors that might have been overlooked by humans. The digital workforce is helping to resolve backlog issues involving thousands of public worker employees who had received incorrect pay. The department is also using AI to help their agents process transactions faster and help reduce potential errors.
Enhancing oversight
There are many tasks that will always need a human touch, and human-in-the-loop (HITL) oversight integrates the digital and human workforce to enhance business process efficiency. For instance, a HITL automation can complete a contact form and forward it to an employee for verification before it is entered into the system. HITL allows for end-to-end process automation, but human employees review and approve the final decisions.
HITL automation allows for seamless workload sharing, enabling users to trigger workflows initiated by digital workers and manage tasks. It also helps ensure regulatory compliance by adding an essential layer of oversight to automated processes. The adaptability provided by human oversight allows for the handling of complex or unexpected situations, ensuring processes remain efficient and effective. Human input also creates a feedback loop that helps improve AI models, enhancing their accuracy and performance over time.
Optimizing resources
Government agencies may be generally aware of the capabilities of AI but struggle to identify specific areas where these technologies would be beneficial. The global tech talent gap continues to be an issue for both the public and private sectors. This shortage makes it difficult to implement advanced technologies that require significant technical expertise.
Intelligent automation platforms enable no-code development, so non-technical staff can participate in the deployment process, reducing the dependency on specialized technical talent. No-code development allows agencies to quickly test use cases without the need for traditional coding. Agents get a visual interface, often with drag-and-drop capabilities, to assemble features and functionalities seamlessly.
The promise of AI is vast, but these are still early days. While Canada’s government is committed to adopting responsible AI, more insight and public input is needed. Public buy-in is essential for the success of AI initiatives, as it fosters trust and transparency.
