Canadian Lawyer InHouse

43 CANADIANLAWYERMAG.COM/INHOUSE MAY/JUNE 2019 This gap in understanding and trust has serious implications for Canadian business- es. People will not adopt and certainly will not purchase a technology they don't trust. It is, therefore, quite evident that building trust in AI is a business priority. CORPORATECOUNSELARE WELL-POSITIONEDTOHELPBUILD TRUSTTOACCELERATEADOPTION Whereas corporate counsel typically consults on how to minimize business risk, we are well positioned to take on a more proactive role in advising our business clients and executives on strategies to build trust with customers. Similar to compliance, building trust in AI can be thought of as a framework that can be developed and applied to all processes and business units. Corporate counsel is already experienced in building out governance frameworks for our orga - nizations around compliance rules, data protection practices under regimes such as GDPR or data-handling procedures under CASL. Similar frameworks and principles need to be developed to shape how orga - nizations create, use and distribute AI. If implemented meaningfully and effectively, such a framework can build consumer and stakeholder confidence in an organization's approach to AI. Developing such a framework begins with proactively engaging with business clients and stakeholders at the top of an organization. Effective corporate counsel should already be a go-to resource for an organization's leader - ship and board. Together with the executive team, corporate counsel can work to advance principles that will be at the foundation of the design, use and deployment of AI. At Micro - soft, for example, legal departments worked with the business to identify and define six values — fairness, reliability and safety, pri- vacy and security, inclusivity, transparency and accountability — to guide the cross-dis- ciplinary development and use of AI. Adopting a set of principles to guide AI design and use will help organizations cul- tivate trust as new technologies emerge and evolve. How those principles are developed and implemented to align with legal and reg- ulatory considerations requires significant input and leadership from corporate counsel. As we are still in the early stages in the growth of AI technologies, in-house cor - porate counsel has an opportunity to posi- tively impact the future of AI for our society by proactively engaging our business clients on these topics. We are well placed given our position as trusted advisors to take on a more proactive role to drive discussions, decisions and actions within our organiza - tions to unlock the generational opportun- ities that come with emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence. IH The views and opinions expressed in this article are personal views and do not necessarily reflect the official position of Microsoft. Jonathan Leibtag is corporate counsel, corporate, external & legal affairs at Microsoft Canada Inc. Celebrating Change Agents in Law BRONZE SPONSOR MEDIA PARTNER TH E E B O L G AND MAI L The 2019 Lexpert Zenith Awards celebrate change agents in the legal profession. You can support these achievements while networking with winners and leading members of the legal profession at an elegant Cocktail Reception and Gala Dinner in Toronto. For sponsorship opportunites, contact us at 416-649-8841 or MediaSolutions.Sales@thomsonreuters.com Date: June 18, 2019 5:30 p.m. Cocktail Reception 7:00 p.m. Gala Dinner and Awards Presentation Location: Arcadian Court, Toronto Lexpert.ca/zenith Keynote Speaker Orlando Da Silva, LSM Senior Crown Counsel and Serious Fraud Office at Ministry of the Attorney General Mental Health Advocate SIGNATURE SPONSOR

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