‘We don’t regulate AI’: CRTC chair grapples with evolving tech in panel discussion

Canada’s digital regulators acknowledge artificial intelligence (AI) is set to become a common theme in their work — but no one is quite certain on how to best handle the disruptive technology. “We don’t have all of the answers,” said CRTC chair Vicky Eatrides during a virtual workshop event on Thursday. “These are very, very broad issues that are continuing to evolve.” “They don’t fit neatly into one regulatory box.” Eatrides’ comments came during a panel discussion on AI regulation jointly hosted by the Copyright Board, Competition Bureau, and privacy commissioner’s office, a group known collectively as the Canadian Digital Regulators Forum. For Eatrides, it’s not necessarily the commission’s responsibility to head Canada’s regulatory response to AI. “We don’t regulate AI,” she told attendees. “It’s not in our legislation to regulate AI it’s not in our policy objectives to regulate AI.” “But, of course, AI is ubiquitous." The CRTC has already made several decisions with implications for users and developers of AI technology, including last year’s update to Canadian content guidelines. “While artificial intelligence may serve as a potential tool to assist in the creation of Canadian content, humans should hold creative control,” read the decision, released last November. “Having heard the concerns about the use of AI in creating content and the transparency of AI use, the Commission is striking a balance by recognizing the usefulness and potential benefits of AI as a creative tool to assist producers and creators, while also recognizing the importance of human control being maintained.” On Thursday, Eatrides said the commission has heard varying perspectives on AI that are “all over the place,” ranging from extreme concern to unrelenting optimism in the technology. During past CRTC consultations, Canadians have suggested the technology could have accessibility benefits, especially with regards to closed captioning on audiovisual programming. “The main takeaway is that people have very mixed emotions,” she said. “Not just in broadcast and telecoms, but across all sectors.” “It’s fluid. We each have our mandates that we need to deliver on, and we need to keep working towards those goals.” Regulators talk AI’s impact on copyright, surveillance pricing Meanwhile, Copyright Board CEO Drew Olsen suggested AI is the latest example of a series of technology-based industry disruptions, though, in this instance, regulators must focus on protecting human agency in copyright processes. “Determining where human authorship ends and automated generation begins will have major impacts,” said Olsen. “Courts and legislatures are clearly grappling with these questions, and legal approaches may vary.” “We are monitoring and staying apprised on ongoing developments in Canada and internationally.” More specifically, Olsen referenced the global debate surrounding text and data mining (TDM), as certain jurisdictions, like the European Union, carve out exceptions for AI developers to train their models on copyrighted content. Elsewhere, the U.K. considered (and eventually abandoned) an opt-out policy that would allow copyrightholders to recuse themselves from data scraping activities. In Canada, the House heritage committee has instead proposed an opt-in approach that would put the onus of consent on creators, though the federal government has yet to explicitly commit to a certain pathway. Recently, Canadian Identity Minister Marc Miller (Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Sœurs, Que.) has suggested the country’s current copyright legislation, which contains no provisions for TDM exceptions, does not need updating. On other topics, Privacy Commissioner Philippe Dufresne spoke about AI has added new challenges to policymakers looking to protect young people online, while interim Competition Commissioner Jeanne Pratt emphasized how the technology has increased the usage of ‘surveillance pricing’ in various markets. Also known as algorithmic pricing, this refers to the practice of charging different amounts for different individual customers, depending on consumer data collected by the business. Pratt suggested the phenomenon is “not new,” but that its opacity makes regulating “very challenging.” “Widespread personalized pricing could make markets less transparent and that could hinder consumers’ options to… shop around,” said Pratt. “Consumers, workers, competitors, or regulators may not fully understand what data is being collected.” Pratt, who is largely viewed as the frontrunner to be appointed the next full-time competition commissioner, suggested surveillance pricing isn’t “always good or always bad,” referencing how many people enjoy receiving a free coffee from Starbucks on their birthday. “It all comes down to how businesses are using it,” she said. dlegree@thewirereport.ca

‘We don’t regulate AI’: CRTC chair grapples with evolving tech in panel discussion

Regulatory |
By Davis Legree
|May 21, 2026

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‘We don’t regulate AI’: CRTC chair grapples with evolving tech in panel discussion

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