Amii Monthly News - April 2023

It's almost time for Upper Bound!

We're just over a month away from welcoming top AI researchers, students and industry leaders to Edmonton, May 23-26. 

Upper Bound is an opportunity to explore the scientific advances and industry applications that are changing the world of artificial intelligence. And we want you to be a part of it!

Tickets are on sale right now. Whether you're a pro or just starting out on your AI journey, Upper Bound is a chance to connect with some of the brightest minds in the field over four days: packed with engaging talks, our scientific symposium, demonstrations, social meet-ups and more! We're still adding more events to our schedule, so be sure to check back often.

We've still got some space for community events during the conference - help us show off Edmonton's vibrant AI ecosystem. You can find out more details about becoming an event partner here.

Last year's inaugural event was a huge success. And we're planning for this year's Upper Bound to be even bigger and better.

Hope to see you there!

See you soon,

Cam

April Highlights

Industry & Community Updates:

• Time is running out to grab tickets for Upper Bound! We're constantly adding new events, speakers and panels to the schedule page that you won't want to miss. 
• Learn about the $30M investment from the Government of Alberta and Alberta Innovates that allows Amii to increase talent development and commercialization.
• Venturi CEO Anthony Chan says he looks for data science and machine learning skills in the new engineers he hires. Hear his experience working with Amii on using ML to reduce emissions and increase safety in the pipeline industry.
• Get your startup AI-ready in 5 weeks with Amii's startup accelerator, the ML Exploration Program! Applications close May 1. 
• Learn more about the work being done by Exo, including research from Amii Fellow and Canada CIFAR AI Chair Jacob Jaremko, that aims to make ultrasounds easier and more accessible. 

Research Updates:

• Do language models like ChatGPT "understand" language? Amii Fellow and Canada CIFAR AI Chair Alona Fyshe gave a TED Talk in NYC on that question.
• Fyshe also talked about using insights from studying the human brain to build better AI in a keynote at last year's AI Week. You can see that full speech here.
• Are you ready for the AI revolution? Watch Richard Sutton's 2022 AI Week keynote on how we can keep our eyes on the prize of understanding intelligence. 
• In this month's AI Seminars, Yuqiao Wen presents f-Divergence Minimization for Sequential Knowledge Distillation. And Khurram Javed talks about promising solution methods for RL in big worlds.

Training Updates:

• ML Foundations 1 teaches you a basic, high-level understanding of what’s important and relevant in the world of machine learning. Join our next class on May 4.
• ML Foundations 2 continues to build on that knowledge by introducing you to tools, strategies and knowledge regarding data and ML. Sign up for the May 11 class.

Upcoming Events

April 26 - 27, 2023

Toronto Womxn in Data Science Conference & Awards

Hear from womxn in academia, industry, government, and start-ups about how they apply data science to their work and their career journeys at this two-day event. Their goal is to ease the gap to help you see yourself in this field, arm you with new knowledge and developments in the field and celebrate exceptional experts. Amii's very own Canada CIFAR AI Chair, Sandra Zilles will be speaking at this prestigious event.

More details

April 26, 2023

Auroralinx Tech Collective April Meet-Up

Calling all tech enthusiasts!

CNC and Auroralinx (formerly known as Prince George Technology Group) have planned a free evening of networking, collaborating and learning from industry experts in the field of AI and Blockchain. Join this gathering of like-minded people who are passionate about technology in the North!

Make sure to catch Amii's own Russ Erickson discussing Alberta's Accelerating Machine Learning Innovation.

Learn more

April 26 - 27, 2023

Alberta Technology Symposium

Join the Canadian Blockchain Consortium for the Alberta Technology Symposium, a two-day exploration of our province’s emerging tech companies, organizations and solutions. Be sure to catch Amii's own David Chan on a panel discussing Alberta's Accelerating Machine Learning Innovation.

More Details

Career Opportunities

• We're looking for a postdoc fellow to work with Amii Fellow & Canada CIFAR AI Chair Osmar R. Zaïane on a project related to Machine Malfunction Prediction and  Machine Adaptation using Machine Learning
• Amii Fellow & Canada CIFAR AI Chair 
  Marlos C. Machado is looking for a postdoc fellow for Fall 2023 to work on deep reinforcement learning and more. 
• The University of Alberta is searching for candidates for some of the researcher positions Amii announced earlier this year. They currently include:
  • Faculty Assistant / Associate Professor in Applied Machine Learning (ML)/Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Land Use Science
  • Assistant Professor, Space Plasma Science AI/ML
  • Assistant, Associate or Full Professor, Artificial Intelligence & Indigeneity
  • Assistant Professor, Quantum Condensed Matter Theory & Machine Learning