HOW TO USE THIS GUIDE
This page provides a basic guide to making a contribution to the People’s Consultation on AI, and comes with a downloadable Submission Template, below. It offers questions and suggests topics for discussion, but you are welcome to organize your submission differently. Feel free to answer as many or as few of the questions as you like, and to write about whatever you think is important whether it “fits” the subheadings or questions or not.
For details on how your submission will be used, please see “What Will Happen to Submitted Comments?” on the “How to Participate” page.
Submissions will be posted online, so please only share details you wish to make public. Keep this in mind if sharing stories or experiences that are not your own. Do not share identifying details about someone else without their consent.
To make this a collective experience or if you prefer working with others, consider using the Local Facilitation Guide to host a micro-consultation of your own.
Those who have specialized or domain expertise may consider responding to questions from the Advanced Consultation Guide.
BEFORE YOU BEGIN
Many questions below refer to “artificial intelligence” (“AI”), but that is an extremely broad catch-all term that can refer to any number of technologies. To encourage clarity and specificity, we have provided a list of technologies currently considered to be “AI” or “AI-based” at the time of this consultation. It does not list every possible known technology that could be called “AI”, but hopefully provides a solid starting point.
Before you begin, we suggest you skim through this list, which includes links to examples and explainers of each technology. You might find it helpful to refer back to the list as you think through each question. You may also find background materials in the Reading List helpful for understanding AI and the issues and controversies around it.
For tips to avoid falling back on “AI” as a generic buzzword, and being clear in writing about AI-related issues, see:
- “Artifice and Intelligence” (recommendations at the end):
- “Specific Terms for Specific Risks: The Need for Accurate Definitions of AI Systems in Policymaking”
Submission Template
[A downloadable, editable version is available below.]
Submission to the People’s Consultation on AI
by [Organization or Individual Name]
[Date]
Introduction
- Who are you / what is your organization?
- Why do you or why does your organization care about this issue—e.g., mandate, work experience, first-hand impacts?
Experiences with and Impacts of AI Technologies
- How have AI technologies impacted your life? Feel free to share specific stories, anecdotes, or experiences (while being mindful of not divulging personally identifying details about others without their consent). Refer to the list of example AI technologies provided.
- How have AI technologies impacted a community you’re part of or a cause you care about?
- How do you, your organization or your community use AI, and how frequently?
- How has AI been used on you, your colleagues, or your community? What have been the impacts of that?
- Do you go out of your way to avoid using AI, or certain types of AI (e.g., generative AI, or paying with cash to avoid your purchase decisions being analyzed)? Why or why not?
- If you use AI technologies in your personal life around others—such using AI tools as in your work output or in interpersonal communications, or using AI-enabled devices in your home or office, do you make a point to disclose that usage to others who may be impacted (e.g., friends, family, intimate partners, colleagues, visitors)? Why or why not?
Problems and Concerns with AI
- What are your key concerns with AI, in general, or with specific AI-based technologies?
- What do you see as the most important or urgent problems with AI, in general? What about specific AI-based technologies? (Important problems may be those that you think are the most important, but can be addressed over a longer period of time. Urgent problems are those you may not think are the most important overall, but must be addressed right now, or as soon as possible.)
Use Cases: Worthwhile or Worth Banning?
- What do you consider to be worthwhile use cases for AI technologies, if any? Tell us about how you weigh up the benefits versus the costs. If you believe there are simply no worthwhile use cases for AI technologies, or for specific types, why is that the case?
- Do you think AI as a class of technologies should be banned entirely? If so, why?
- Do you think specific kinds of AI technologies or use cases should be banned? If so, which specific ones, and why?
- What are some ways to support worthwhile use cases and/or ban specific AI technologies or uses?
Missing from the Discussion
- When you consider general public discussion, mainstream media coverage, and cultural conversations around AI, is there anything you think is missing from the conversation? What should be raised in public dialogue?
- Do you have concerns with how Ai technologies are positioned or framed in public discourse? How would you frame or position them differently?
- What do you think lawmakers and policymakers most need to know or keep in mind when addressing AI or creating a “national strategy” on AI?
- Is there anything that wasn’t covered in this submission template that you’d like to add? Include that here or wherever else in this document you see fit.
Recommendations
- Do you have specific recommendations for lawmakers, policymakers, or anyone else in a position of power (e.g., school boards, employers, law enforcement, journalists) to implement when it comes to any of the things you discussed above? If so, explain them here.