NDP leadership candidate Avi Lewis goes after AI data centres
CBC
NDP leadership candidate Avi Lewis is calling for a moratorium on data centres along with other measures in a bid to rein in emerging generative artificial intelligence (AI) companies that he says are stealing private data, threatening jobs and harming the environment.
Lewis, one of the frontrunners in the leadership race, dropped another platform plank on Thursday that called for a "Humans-First AI Policy."
It distinguishes between automated machine learning used for medical research, and the campaign's opposition to "multi-billion-dollar corporate products built on generative AI like large language models (LLMs)."
Generative AI is a type of artificial intelligence that produces content such as text, audio, code, videos and images, with minimal human intervention.
Lewis warns the success of corporate generative AI giants like ChatGPT and Google's Gemini depend on "causing mass unemployment."
"AI as a successful technology relies on it delivering massive productivity gains," he said in an interview. "And what that means is firing millions and millions of workers and replacing millions of jobs with technology."
Lewis's policy platform goes after the Liberal government, which sees AI as an opportunity to create millions of jobs and grow the Canadian economy. It opposes the use of AI chatbots to provide public services to Canadians or replace public service jobs.
The NDP leadership candidate alleges Prime Minister Mark Carney is in a "massive conflict of interest" since he holds shares in a blind trust in a company, Brookfield, that is heavily invested in AI.
CBC reached out to the Prime Minister's Office for comment on Lewis's accusation.
In a speech Thursday from Quebec City, Carney did address the tightrope his government is walking when it comes to the threats and opportunities related to this emerging technology.
"The advent of artificial intelligence will simultaneously challenge fairness, inclusion and solidarity while it creates enormous opportunities for how we live, work and play," Carney said in a speech. "These tensions can only be reconciled if AI works for all"
Carney said AI can provide "powerful solutions" in education, health care and in the federal public service, but noted "realizing that potential" will require fundamental reforms to Canada's education system, skills training and the nation's social welfare system.
Carney did not elaborate on what those changes would be.
One of the more controversial aspects of Lewis's AI platform is its call to pause the expansion of data centres. AI requires data centres, which house computer servers that require vast amounts of energy and water to cool down the machines that generate a lot of heat.
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