b'ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCEPRIVACY to communities. We need to havethe community while respecting their Since AI is dependent on massivecommunities educated and have agencyunique values and heritage, he explains. amounts of data to build predictiveenough to understand to give informedIts crucial to approach the integration of modelling, it necessitates the collec- consent, Running Wolf adds. AI in First Nation businesses and inno-tion of this data, which brings with it avation with sensitivity to the cultural serious privacy risk. Privacy in the ageThis is a sentiment shared by Proctor,context, community input, and control of AI is becoming an ever-increasingwhoaddsthatitsimperativeforover data and systems. friction point between those who wishIndigenous communities and busi-to advance the technology and thosenesses to work with the right expertsUltimately, one can say that AI can who value their autonomy and privacy.in this area. Collaboration with expertsbebothagiftandacurse.Itall This can be as innocuous as monitoringand organizations that specialize in thedepends on the educational steps your activity online, or as invasive as theethical and responsible implementa- and precautions taken by any company storage of your facial likeness to use intion of these technologies can belooking to embrace this game-changing ML. These issues will only increase asinvaluable to ensure that they benefittechnology.the technology advances and becomes more widespread. Theseprivacyconcernsareeven more real for Indigenous businesses and communities where exploitative practices have been imposed in the past. As a result, everything should be heavily considered before committing to the new technology, but in the end, it remains challenging to quantify what an individual, business or community is willing to give up to tech giants in exchange for more efficient practices. Running Wolf describes working with a community that wanted to exten-sively implement AI systems and was willing to hand over massive amounts of data. He responded with an honest warning that it would potentially be a huge privacy violation. With AI and ML, he says, everything comes at a cost that needs to be considered and you need a healthy suspicion.LACK OF EXPERTISE Both Proctor and Running Wolf see education and capacity building as the first step for effective and safe use of AI technology. Call to Action 66 seeks to remedy the educational gap for Indigenous communities across the country and this is especially important if Indigenous businesses and commu-nities wish to implement AI. AI is like a rocket engine: you need to know how to operate it and you need to have the technical know-how otherwise youre going to hurt yourself, Running Wolf says. You have to think of AI in the same way. Given all the inherent risks involved, without the capacity to make deci-sions based on informed consent of AI programs to be implemented, there is a very real risk of harm being done Aboriginal BUSINESS REPORT 27CCAB-May 2023-V1.indd 1 5/10/2023 3:47:12 PM'