Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute

Amii Monthly Newsletter: April 2022

Published

Apr 20, 2022

Hi there,

Can you believe that AI Week 2022 is a little over a month away?

We've been working hard to prepare to celebrate 20 years of AI excellence and show off what we will be driving in the coming years. We can't wait to share with you some of the great things we have planned!

Here's what we're excited about this month:

  • Last week, we unveiled our AI Week Program! With more than 20 events, the jam-packed week has something for everyone – including sessions, networking events and socials for all ages and familiarity with AI. Get your ticket for what is sure to be the marquee AI event of the year!

  • Applications are now open for our Kickstart Program, an early career development program for women and gender-diverse individuals looking to start AI careers. Apply before May 31.

There are many more opportunities below to get involved in our thriving AI community, as well as recent news, updates and tips and tricks -- read more below.

See you soon,


April Highlights

Industry & Community Updates:

  • Edmonton-based software company EZ Ops is using ML to solve some of the most pressing challenges in the oil and gas industry – learn how in our case study.

  • Our March AI Meetup covered how AI is being used to reduce environmental impact, featuring Blindman Brewing co-founder Kirk Zembal and Amii/RLAI Lab graduate student Rohan Nuttall.

  • Grow your understanding of AI & machine learning and how this technology affects modern business – sign up for AI & Your Business News!

  • Uniting the Prairies (UP) is back! The conference is application-only this year – apply to attend it in Saskatoon on May 4 & 5.

  • Our friends at TECTERRA are hosting NORTH51 in Banff on May 4-6! This year's theme will explore the fusion of new technology with geospatial.

  • A big congratulations to our friends at DrugBank who raised $9M in their latest seed funding round, led by Brightspark VC!

Research Updates:

  • What makes a good AI paper? What factors go into whether a paper is accepted or rejected? Watch our event replay for Demystifying the AI Paper Review Process.

  • The MIRA chatbot helps people find the mental health resources they are looking for and breaks down the stigma around getting help. Check out Osmar Zaïane’s (Amii Fellow and Canada CIFAR AI Chair) interview with CBC Edmonton (starts at 19:25).

  • University of Alberta researchers – among them, Russ Greiner (Amii Fellow and Canada CIFAR AI Chair) – have trained an ML model to identify people with PTSD with 80% accuracy.

  • Robert Holte, Amii Fellow and one of the founding researchers of Amii, has been given the Award for Lifetime Achievement in Computer Science from CS Can|Info Can for his contributions to machine learning and heuristic search.

  • In Amir Hossein's AI Seminar, he presents GPEX, which uses a framework to reduce the gap between interpretability and prediction performance in artificial neural networks.

Training Updates:

  • The AI Career Accelerator provides you with tangible career-building support, resources and opportunities as you pursue a career in AI! Learn more about the program and how it can help you.

  • Take the first step in your AI learning journey with ML Foundations 1! This live online class will give you a crash course on the basics, building foundational knowledge using real-world examples. Register for our May 5 class.

  • ML Foundations 2 continues to build off of the foundational knowledge taught in ML Foundations 1, taking a closer look at technical concepts. Register for our May 12 class!


Alberta AI Ecosystems Project: Case Studies

The Ecosystems Project is an Alberta Artificial Intelligence Ecosystem Initiative supported by Amii and funded in part by Prairies Canada.

The initiative brought together organizations from non-profit, business and academia to establish viable uses for artificial intelligence and machine learning in health and data analytics. Get to know program participants in our final round of case studies:

  • Edmonton’s StreamML Inc. aims to break down barriers to machine learning, making the process simpler and faster.

  • An offshoot of Clinisys EMR Inc., Clinilytics is an ML-focused healthcare analytics company, using AI to build tools that help healthcare professionals manage resources and diagnose patients.

  • In our roundup post, meet all Ecosystem Project organizations using AI to transform health and wellness!


Get Your AI Week Ticket!

From May 24-27, immerse yourself in the deep science of AI & ML, connect with industry leaders, explore career opportunities and learn more about how AI is driving the future success of our bright economic future.

Learn more and get your ticket now


Upcoming Events

April 26: Amii's Virtual AI Meetup

Hosted by Amii's Britt Ayotte, this month’s meetup is all about AI and video games! The event features Levi Lelis (Fellow & Canada CIFAR AI Chair at Amii) & Devon Sigurdson (Associate Technical Director at Bioware).

Get your free ticket

April 27-28: Toronto Womxn in Data Science Annual Conference and 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. Danica Sutherland (Canada CIFAR AI Chair at Amii) presents at this event.

RSVP

May 11: Chancellor's Forum on Artificial Intelligence

This Chancellor's Forum, an initiative of the University of Alberta Senate, is an opportunity to consider advances in scientific knowledge as well as the social, political and economic possibilities of artificial intelligence.

RSVP


Career Opportunities

Authors

Cam Linke

Spencer Murray

Britt Ayotte

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