The meteoric rise of AI commercialization, and the relatively few players developing the technology, mean it has an outsized ability to endanger humankind, said Yoshua Bengio, who also serves as scientific director of the Montreal-based artificial intelligence institute. (The Logic)

Talking point: Bengio was speaking at the launch of Missing links in AI governance, a report Mila co-authored with UNESCO that explores the potentially harmful effects of AI in weapons development and misinformation. Microsoft researcher Kate Crawford, who also spoke at the launch, believes it imperative that lawmakers around the world put forth legislation “with teeth” to regulate AI development. “AI is so general purpose. It’s not a social network that you can choose to join or leave. These are tools that will affect you, no matter if you choose to participate in them or not,” she said. Canada’s proposed AI rules have so far drawn criticism from the industry.