Media Release: AI Week launches new era of AI impact in Alberta

Amii draws an unprecedented gathering of top talent: 2100 AI researchers, professionals and enthusiasts

AI Week presented by Amii, hosted from May 24-27 in Edmonton, brought together more than 2,100 AI enthusiasts and professionals to connect across nearly 60 unique events, including business-focused panels and discussions, academic sessions, networking socials and celebrations. More than 80 speakers from the global business, academic, government and startup communities delivered sessions on topics ranging from advanced AI research and deep tech demos to the use of AI in business and career pathways for children.

AI Week by the numbers:

• 2142 guests
• 82 speakers
• 57 unique events:
  • 29 business-focused discussions
  • 22 academic symposium sessions
  • 6 community events
• 27 event partners
• Talent Bursaries
  • 877 total applications
  • 38 countries represented
  • 69% of applicants coming from an underrepresented community in STEM
  • 515 bursaries awarded
  • 51% from outside of Alberta

With events hosted at Amii’s headquarters at First and Jasper, the University of Alberta as well as a variety of venues across Edmonton’s downtown core, AI Week was an opportunity for attendees to explore the business and science of AI while also experiencing hidden gems and hotspots around city. The jam-packed week included keynotes from Richard S. Sutton, one of the world’s foremost experts in AI and reinforcement learning, and rising stars from the Canadian AI community Alona Fyshe, Martha White, Dornoosh Zonoobi and Jacob Jaremko. AI Week also featured other local AI-focused organizations through a selection of community-led events that included panel discussions on AI for construction and the social impact of AI, among other topics.

“AI Week was a chance to showcase the best of Canada’s world leadership in AI and Alberta’s 20-year legacy of excellence,” says Cam Linke, CEO of Amii. “More than that, it was an opportunity to gather the world’s AI community to help establish the foundations for our next twenty years of impact. It was an honour to have met so many talented, creative and intelligent people passionate about machine learning, and I can’t wait to see how they will contribute to continuing to build Alberta’s place at the world’s top destination for the science and business of AI.”

To help bring the global AI community to Edmonton, Amii worked with sponsor organizations, offering talent bursaries for technical professionals to help cover the cost of travel and accommodations for AI Week. With more than 875 applications from 38 countries and 69 per cent of applicants identifying as part of an underrepresented community in STEM, bursaries were offered to emerging researchers and industry professionals looking to further their careers in AI. Ultimately, 515 bursaries were awarded with more than 50 per cent of the recipients coming from outside of Alberta.

AI Week was made possible in part through sponsorship from Alberta Advantage Immigration Program (AAIP), AltaML, Applied Pharmaceutical Innovation, ATB, Attabotics, BDC, DeepMind, Calgary Economic Development, CBRE, CIFAR, Drugbank, Edmonton Global, Edmonton International Airport, Explore Edmonton, Forethought.ai, iMining Technologies, Inflexion Games, Invest Alberta, NeuroSoph, PrairiesCan, PwC Canada, RBC, Samdesk, Sanctuary.ai, Servus Credit Union, TELUS, TELUS World of Science Edmonton and the University of Alberta.