Canada Eyes Health AI Leadership with Middle-Power Alliance

Fahad Razak, Amol Verma, and Kumanan Wilson argue Canada should spearhead a middle-power alliance focused on health artificial intelligence. They contend that control over health data and AI is becoming a new geopolitical arena, alongside traditional resources like oil and minerals.

Canada possesses a valuable asset in its single-payer healthcare system which generates comprehensive data from a diverse population of 42 million people, a combination ideal for developing globally relevant AI. However, the authors note that Canada cannot compete directly with the United States or China in AI dominance due to their superior computing power and talent.

Instead, they propose a collaborative ecosystem with other middle powers to share costs and maintain national data control, utilizing emerging data standards that allow for analysis without data transfer. This alliance could also mitigate dependence on American and Chinese tech giants and capitalize on the projected US$1-trillion health AI market. The initiative builds on Canada’s existing AI strategy and aims to translate scientific excellence into global leadership while improving healthcare fairness and pandemic preparedness.