Cam Linke lends expertise to national Advisory Council on Artificial Intelligence

Amii CEO Cam Linke is the newest member of Canada's Advisory Council on Artificial Intelligence, where he'll lend his expertise to advising the federal government on how to best harness the potential of AI.

The advisory council was set up in 2019 to provide guidance to the Canadian government as it continues to build on the country's position as a global leader in AI development. The council focuses on ensuring artificial intelligence promotes economic growth in Canada, further research and making sure AI development reflects the country's values. The council has launched two working groups, one focusing on public awareness and one on commercialization.

The Public Awareness Working Group focuses on building public interest and trust in AI. In the spring of last year, it partnered with CIFAR and the University of Montreal’s Algora Lab to host a series of virtual workshops for Canadians to gauge perceptions of artificial intelligence. The working group is expected to release a full report on the workshops, as well as recommendations on how to build public trust in AI, late this year.

The Commercialization Working Group is dedicated to unlocking the economic potential of AI in Canada. After a year of preparation, the group released a 2020 report on how to best leverage Canadian-owned AI into economic opportunities within the country. The report identified a few key areas that it deemed crucial for success: attracting talent to grow Canada’s AI community, broadening access to data, better coordination encouraging AI adoption in industry and building an AI-friendly regulatory environment. The working group recommended measures like expanding the Pan-Canadian AI strategy, creating stronger links between academia and industry and expanding access to computing power as ways to achieve the sector’s full potential. Read the full Commercialization Working Group report here.

On the Advisory Council, Linke will join other high-profile leaders in Canada’s AI community, including: Foteini Agrafioti, head of RBC’s Borealis AI, Mila Scientific Director Yoshua Bengio and Elissa Strome, Executive Director of the Pan-Canadian Artificial Intelligence Strategy for CIFAR.

“As AI continues to transform the way we live, work, socialize, do business and even play, it’s crucial for governments around the world to make informed decisions that guide the development of the technology,” says Linke.

“I’m proud to stand alongside other Canadian leaders from the business and research communities to offer our expertise on the Government of Canada’s Advisory Council on AI. It is only through interdisciplinary collaboration and open dialogue that we can ensure AI advancement provides benefit to all.”

Cam Linke combines more than a decade of leadership in Edmonton's tech community with hands-on experience in AI research. He's the co-founder of Start-up Edmonton and served as the leader of several tech companies. He also is an artificial intelligence researcher in his own right, having studied under Dr Rich Sutton and Dr Adam White (both Fellows and Canada CIFAR AI Chairs at Amii), focusing on strategies for AI to improve their own self-learning. Linke also sits on the Government of Alberta’s Research Capital Working Group and Research Commercialization Working Group.

Read more about Cam and the other members of the Advisory Council on Artificial Intelligence.

Discover more about how Amii is advancing AI research and economic growth through AI in our 2020-21 Impact Report