Microsoft Canada president Matt Milton is both optimistic about artificial intelligence and burdened by the responsibility of ensuring it remains secure, trusted and ultimately adopted by Canadians.
“AI will disrupt and change possibly every job that exists today,” the Ottawa native says — adding that Canadians need to adopt it, or risk being left behind.
At the same time, Milton is optimistic about the opportunities it offers to solve existing challenges and the new industries and roles it will create.
The question that remains, says Milton, is whether Canadians will embrace the opportunity, or let fear and skepticism keep them on the sidelines.
In a recent survey by Pew Research only nine per cent of Canadians said they were more excited than concerned about AI, the lowest proportion among the 25 nations surveyed.
“Canadians are reserved and skeptical about it, as they should be,” Milton says. “It is advancing all around the world already, and so…