Responsible AI

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a transformative technology, affecting all aspects of society while fundamentally changing how humans live, work and communicate. Although it presents endless opportunities, it also comes with unintended consequences and potential risks, which must be tackled at all stages in the development and rollout of AI systems.

Man holding his two daughters in a field of red-petaled flowers.

Responsible AI research explores pitfalls of the technology while seeking socio-technical solutions to make machine learning algorithms more trustworthy, safe, and fair. Mila’s researchers actively design solutions aimed at mitigating bias and discrimination, tackling the lack of epistemic humility within large language models, which can confidently state false things.

In addition, Mila’s researchers continue to explore ways of aligning and controlling AI systems, while also improving data privacy across an AI system’s lifecycle. Mila also leads a number of high-level projects through its AI4 Humanity stream. Harnessing the power of machine learning algorithms, Mila is helping to tackle major contemporary challenges such as online human trafficking, modern slavery, and sexist bias in text.

Featured Projects

Virtual landscape

Ubisoft-Mila Industrial Research Chair

Designed to guide technological innovation in the video game industry, the Ubisoft-Mila Industrial Research Chair explores the ethical use of AI in game development. 

Spotlight on Equal Lab

At Equal Lab (Mila/McGill University), a team of multidisciplinary experts collaborates in the development of innovative solutions addressing algorithmic biases, in order to ensure fair and ethical AI outcomes in fields such as healthcare and finance.

Learn more

Group photo of Equal Lab members.
Photo of Golnoosh Farnadi

AI is a powerful tool that affects every aspect of society. Responsible AI principles seek to put in place the necessary safeguards to make sure that this power is harnessed for the common good.

Golnoosh Farnadi, Assistant Professor, McGill University, Core Academic Member, Mila

Resources

Missing links in AI governance
This book, jointly published by Mila and UNESCO, addresses the urgent need for better governance of artificial intelligence in the face of unprecedented technological change.
Montréal Declaration for a Responsible Development of Artificial Intelligence
Co-created by Mila and the Université de Montréal, the Montreal Declaration is a collective work that aims to put AI development at the service of the well-being of all people.
AI & Cities: Risks, Applications and Governance
This white paper produced by Mila and UN-Habitat aim to assist governments in the appropriate and responsible use of AI in cities.

In the Media

Montreal group joins call for better governance of AI (CBC)
Mila, UNESCO warn against use of AI in “harmful contexts” in joint book (BetaKit) on AI governance

Research Labs

Mila professors exploring the subject as part of their research.

Mila Faculty
Core Academic Member
Portrait of David Ifeoluwa Adelani
McGill University
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Associate Academic Member
Portrait of Ulrich Aivodji
Assistant Professor, École de technologie supérieure (ETS), Department of Software and Information Technology Engineering
Associate Academic Member
Portrait of Ian Arawjo
Assistant Professor, Université de Montréal, Department of Computer Science and Operations Research
Core Academic Member
Portrait of Tal Arbel
Full Professor, McGill University, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Core Academic Member
Portrait of Pierre-Luc Bacon
Assistant Professor, Université de Montréal, Department of Computer Science and Operations Research
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Core Industry Member
Portrait of Dzmitry Bahdanau
AI Research Scientist, ServiceNow
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Core Academic Member
Portrait of Yoshua Bengio
Full Professor, Université de Montréal, Department of Computer Science and Operations Research Department
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Core Academic Member
Portrait of Danilo Bzdok is unavailable
Associate Professor, McGill University, Department of Biomedical Engineering
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Affiliate Member
Portrait of Quentin Cappart
Associate Professor, Polytechnique Montréal, Department of Computer Engineering and Software Engineering
Associate Academic Member
Portrait of Margarida Carvalho
Assistant Professor, Université de Montréal, Department of Computer Science and Operations Research
Core Academic Member
Portrait of Jackie Cheung
Associate Scientific Director, Mila, Associate Professor, McGill University, School of Computer Science
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Associate Academic Member
Portrait of Mark Coates
Associate Professor, McGill University, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Affiliate Member
Portrait of Ignacio Cofone
Associate Professor, University of Oxford
Core Academic Member
Portrait of Aaron Courville
Associate Professor, Université de Montréal, Department of Computer Science and Operations Research
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Affiliate Member
Portrait of Maria Cutumisu
Associate Professor, McGill University
Associate Academic Member
Portrait of Erick Delage
Full Professor, HEC Montréal, Department of Decision Sciences
Affiliate Member
Portrait of Fernando Diaz is unavailable
Associate Professor, Carnegie Mellon University, School of Computer Science, Language Technologies Institutes
Associate Academic Member
Portrait of Marc-Antoine Dilhac
Associate Professor, Université de Montréal, Department of Philosophy
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Associate Academic Member
Portrait of Guillaume Dumas
Associate Professor, Université de Montréal, Department of Psychiatry and Addiction
Associate Industry Member
Portrait of Gintare Karolina Dziugaite
Senior Research Scientist, Google DeepMind
Affiliate Member
Portrait of Samira Ebrahimi Kahou
Assistant Professor, University of Calgary, Deparment of Electrical and Software Engineering
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Core Academic Member
Portrait of Golnoosh Farnadi
Assistant Professor, McGill University, School of Computer Science
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Associate Academic Member
Portrait of Christian Gagné
Full Professor, Université Laval, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Associate Academic Member
Portrait of Pascal Germain
Assistant Professor, Université Laval, Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Core Academic Member
Portrait of Gauthier Gidel
Assistant Professor, Université de Montréal, Department of Computer Science and Operations Research
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Associate Academic Member
Portrait of Jean-François Godbout
Full Professor, Université de Montréal
Associate Academic Member
Portrait of Jin Guo
Assistant Professor, McGill University, School of Computer Science
Core Academic Member
Portrait of Alex  Hernandez (Upcoming member) is unavailable
Assistant Professor, Université de Montréal
Associate Academic Member
Portrait of Toby Dylan Hocking
Associate Professor, Université Sherbrooke, Department of Computer Science
Associate Academic Member
Portrait of Julie Hussin
Associate Professor, Université de Montréal
Affiliate Member
Portrait of Khimya Khetarpal
Research Scientist, Google DeepMind
Associate Academic Member
Portrait of Foutse Khomh
Professor, Polytechnique Montréal, Department of Computer Engineering and Software Engineering
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Associate Academic Member
Portrait of Eric Kolaczyk
Professor, McGill University, Department of Mathematics and Statistics
Affiliate Member
Portrait of Shin (Alexandre) Koseki
Assistant Professor, Université de Montréal, School of Urban Planning and Landscape Architecture
Affiliate Member
Portrait of Smita Krishnaswamy
Associate Professor, Yale University
Core Academic Member
Portrait of Simon Lacoste-Julien
Associate Scientific Director, Mila, Associate Professor, Université de Montréal, Department of Computer Science and Operations Research
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Core Academic Member
Portrait of Guillaume Lajoie
Associate Professor, Université de Montréal, Department of Mathematics and Statistics
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Associate Academic Member
Portrait of Xue (Steve) Liu is unavailable
Full Professor, McGill University, School of Computer Science
Core Academic Member
Portrait of Tegan Maharaj
Assistant Professor in Machine Learning, HEC Montréal, Department of Decision Science
Core Academic Member
Portrait of AJung Moon
Assistant Professor, McGill University, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Associate Academic Member
Portrait of Eilif Benjamin Muller
Assistant Professor, Université de Montréal, Department of Neurosciences
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Core Academic Member
Portrait of Derek Nowrouzezahrai
Associate Professor, McGill University, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Associate Academic Member
Portrait of Borke Obada-Obieh is unavailable
Assistant Professor, McGill University, School of Computer Science
Associate Academic Member
Portrait of Adam M. Oberman is unavailable
Full Professor, McGill University, Department of Mathematics and Statistics
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Associate Industry Member
Portrait of Alexandra Olteanu
Principal Researcher and founding members of the FATE Montréal Team, Microsoft Research, Montréal
Core Academic Member
Portrait of Chris Pal
Full Professor, Polytechnique Montréal, Department of Computer Engineering and Software Engineering
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Associate Academic Member
Portrait of Pablo Piantanida
Full Professor, Université Paris-Saclay
Core Academic Member
Portrait of Joelle Pineau
Associate Professor, McGill University, School of Computer Science
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Associate Academic Member
Portrait of Dan Poenaru
Professor, McGill University, Department of Pediatric Surgery
Associate Academic Member
Portrait of Eva Portelance
Assistant Professor, HEC Montréal, Department of Decision Sciences
Core Academic Member
Portrait of Reihaneh Rabbany
Assistant Professor, McGill University, School of Computer Science
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Associate Academic Member
Portrait of Mirco Ravanelli
Assistant Professor, Concordia University, Gina Cody School of Engineering and Computer Science
Core Academic Member
Portrait of Siva Reddy
Assistant Professor, McGill University, School of Computer Science and Department of Linguistics
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Associate Academic Member
Portrait of Catherine Régis
Full Professor, Université de Montréal
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Core Academic Member
Portrait of Blake Richards
Associate Professor, McGill University, School of Computer Science and Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Associate Academic Member
Portrait of Ayla Rigouts Terryn
Assistant Professor, Université de Montréal, Linguistics and translation
Core Academic Member
Portrait of Irina Rish
Full Professor, Université de Montréal, Department of Computer Science and Operations Research Department
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Core Academic Member
Portrait of David Rolnick
Assistant Professor, McGill University, School of Computer Science
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Core Industry Member
Portrait of Adriana Romero Soriano is unavailable
Research Scientist, Meta AI Research (FAIR)
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Associate Industry Member
Portrait of Negar Rostamzadeh
Senior Research Scientist, Google Brain Ethical AI Team
Core Academic Member
Portrait of David Scott Krueger
Assistant professor, Université de Montréal, Department of Computer Science and Operations Research (DIRO)
Affiliate Member
Portrait of Xujie Si
Assistant Professor, University of Toronto, Department of Computer Science
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Core Academic Member
Portrait of Dhanya Sridhar
Assistant Professor, Université de Montréal, Department of Computer Science and Operations Research
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Associate Industry Member
Portrait of Kory Wallace Mathewson
Research Scientist, DeepMind
Core Academic Member
Portrait of Guy Wolf
Associate Professor, Université de Montréal, Department of Mathematics and Statistics
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Associate Academic Member
Portrait of Archer Yang
Associate professor, McGill University, Department of Mathematics and Statistics
Associate Academic Member
Portrait of Amal Zouaq
Full Professor, Polytechnique Montréal, Department of Computer Engineering and Software Engineering

Publications

A Unifying Framework for Fairness-Aware Influence Maximization
Behrouz Babaki
Michel Gendreau
The problem of selecting a subset of nodes with greatest influence in a graph, commonly known as influence maximization, has been well studi… (see more)ed over the past decade. This problem has real world applications which can potentially affect lives of individuals. Algorithmic decision making in such domains raises concerns about their societal implications. One of these concerns, which surprisingly has only received limited attention so far, is algorithmic bias and fairness. We propose a flexible framework that extends and unifies the existing works in fairness-aware influence maximization. This framework is based on an integer programming formulation of the influence maximization problem. The fairness requirements are enforced by adding linear constraints or modifying the objective function. Contrary to the previous work which designs specific algorithms for each variant, we develop a formalism which is general enough for specifying different notions of fairness. A problem defined in this formalism can be then solved using efficient mixed integer programming solvers. The experimental evaluation indicates that our framework not only is general but also is competitive with existing algorithms.
Managing AI Risks in an Era of Rapid Progress
Geoffrey Hinton
Andrew Yao
Dawn Song
Pieter Abbeel
Yuval Noah Harari
Trevor Darrell
Ya-Qin Zhang
Lan Xue
Shai Shalev-Shwartz
Gillian K. Hadfield
Jeff Clune
Frank Hutter
Atilim Güneş Baydin
Sheila McIlraith
Qiqi Gao
Ashwin Acharya
Anca Dragan … (see 5 more)
Philip Torr
Stuart Russell
Daniel Kahneman
Jan Brauner
Sören Mindermann