Federal investment in artificial intelligence was so good for Canada, and Edmonton – Edmonton Journal Achi-News

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The CEO of the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute says the federal government’s budget commitments to artificial intelligence should help reinforce Canada’s and Edmonton’s leadership in the growing field.

On April 7, the federal government announced a $2.4 billion injection into Canada’s AI industry. The funding aims to help six specific areas including capacity, protection and enforcement. Cam Linke, who heads the Alberta organization, known as Amii for short, said the money is a welcome reinforcement of federal support for the industry.

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“As a country, we punch above our weight class,” Linke said.

Since its introduction, Linke said the federal government’s pan-Canadian AI strategy, of which Amii is a part, has helped make Canada a world leader in the industry. The efforts began in 2017 and are headquartered in three places: Amii in Edmonton, Vector in Toronto, and Mila in Montreal.

The funding announced earlier this month, Linke said, is part of Canada’s ongoing commitment to maintaining the national status carved out by the three hubs and continuing to stay at the forefront of AI.

The money has been earmarked to support six efforts within the industry.

• $2 billion towards building and providing access to computing capabilities;

• $200 million towards AI startups and wider adoption;

• $100 million to the National Research Council of Canada’s Industrial Research Support Program for AI support;

• $50 million for workers affected by the growth of AI;

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• $50 million to start a national AI security institute; a

• $5.1 million to help enforce the Artificial Intelligence and Data Act.

The first priority is more “computing” power, which Linke said is the mechanism used to train AI to solve complex problems.

By improving the computing power, Canada can have greater access to capable AI, which can be used by people, businesses and governments of all sizes.

“Computing has been a challenge. We’ve seen that from startups and from companies that have raised money,” said Linke.

Nicole Janssen, co-founder of AltaML, an Edmonton-based developer of AI-powered solutions, had a similarly positive response to the investment in national computing capacity, but voiced concern about ensuring it was allocated to Canadian companies. He suggested a possible redirection of $1 billion of accounting efforts to adoption that would address Canada’s labor shortage and optimization.

“This reallocation to drive greater adoption would boost our capabilities and ensure that investments truly benefit Canadian innovation and industry,” Janssen wrote in a post on the company’s website.

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Linke echoed Janssen’s point on the national adoption of AI.

“Canada is definitely behind in adoption compared to other places like the United States, but we’ve seen a big push over the last year to start closing that,” he said.

Despite slower national adoption, last year Amii worked with more than 170 companies to expand their use of AI.

While the introduction of federal money will be important, Linke said the overall need for investment is of greater concern. Whether the money is used to nurture national talent, innovate or expand local opportunities, Linke said there was no one particular area that should be prioritised.

“We’re trying to create some gravity in the country that attracts the world here, that keeps amazing people here because they want to be here. You have to push several areas at once to be able to succeed in that regard.”

Amii will host an AI summit called Upper Bound in May to give Edmontonians a chance to meet and learn more about the industry.

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