Ask AI Podcast

Episode 57 of the Ask AI podcast features a conversation with Eric Sigel, a data scientist and biotech innovator with over 20 years of experience.The discussion delves into how artificial intelligence is reshaping the future of scientific research, particularly in drug discovery, but not always at the expected pace or in anticipated ways. Eric shares insights from his work at X-Chem, where he developed the scientific computing and data science infrastructure for their DNA-Encoded Library platform, and at ZebiAI, a spin-off company that applied machine learning to DEL technology and was acquired by Relay Therapeutics. The episode explores the challenges of integrating AI into laboratory workflows, the bottlenecks that persist despite technological advancements, and the evolving skill sets required for scientists to keep pace with AI's rapid evolution. For more details, please visit the episode post.ABOUT ASK AI PODCASTAsk AI is an independent nonprofit that collaborates with volunteers, industry experts, and AI innovators to share free content and resources that help people spot the opportunities and navigate the challenges associated with the increased adoption of artificial intelligence at work. Visit: askai.org

Welcome to Expert Insights, a new show format from of the Ask AI podcast where industry leaders share their thoughts about the opportunities and challenges related to AI adoption in the workplace.This episode features Stephen Ghigliotty, the co-founder of MarketingEducation.ai, a free community designed to help marketers and educators navigate the AI revolution.With over 25 years of experience at global advertising firms including Accenture and Saatchi & Saatchi, and contributing to the curriculum for Canada's top marketing certification at the Canadian Marketing Association, Stephen has shaped how professionals learn and grow in this vital field.In this episode, Stephen shares practical tips on how marketers can get started with AI and start using it to their career advantage.Visit: https://marketingeducation.ai/SUGGESTED RESOURCES:Stephen suggested the following free training resoruces as a good place for marketers who are new to artificial intelligence to get started:Google AI Essentials: https://grow.google/certificates/en_ca/ai-essentialsGoogle Machine Learning & AI For All Levels:https://cloud.google.com/learn/training/machinelearning-aiABOUT ASK AI:Ask AI is an independent nonprofit that collaborates with volunteers, industry experts, and AI innovators to share free content and resources that help people spot the opportunities and navigate the challenges associated with the increased adoption of artificial intelligence at work.Subscribe: https://www.askai.org/subscribe

The Ask AI podcast caught up with Charles C. Onu, the CEO and Co-Founder of Ubenwa Health, the Montreal startup whose Nanni mobile application enables professionals and parents to "shazam" baby cries in order to get actionable healthcare insights in hospital delivery rooms, nurseries, and homes. Stay one step ahead of AI opportunities and disruptions. Subscribe to the Ask AI newsletter to get human-curated news roundups, up-coming events, and key social posts PLUS exclusive interviews, expert videos, and open research. Visit: https://www.askai.org --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ask-ai/message

Ask AI caught up with Jared Lindzon, leading journalist (BBC, Toronto Star, Rolling Stone, New York Times, TIME) and top observer of the trends and forces that are shaping job skills, careers, the very nature of modern work itself. Get all the links and more from the episode post: https://www.askai.org/post/e54-how-is-artificial-intelligence-going-to-impact-the-evolution-of-work Special thanks to our series sponsor Cinchy, the enterprise Data Collaboration Platform that provides the cure for data complexity. Learn more: https://link.cinchy.com/nehj --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ask-ai/message

In Episode 53 of the Ask AI podcast, host Melissa meets with David Scharbach, a proud father, community builder, and founder of multiple major AI events, including the Toronto Machine Learning Series, MLOps World, Generative AI Summit, and Impulse AI Latam which has involved planning and coordinating over 100 individual events featuring more than 700 speakers. As a key figure on the international AI scene for over a decade, his insights into what its like working with AI founders and researchers (whose natural disposition does not always tend towards active community engagment) are gold dust for those seeking to engage with them. Visit our episode post to stream the video version and get all the links: https://www.askai.org/post/e53-what-is-it-like-hosting-over-one-hundred-major-artificial-intelligence-events --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ask-ai/message

In this episode of the Ask AI podcast, host Melissa Kargiannakis explores the intricate relationship between artificial intelligence, law, and technology with Dr. Maura Grossman, a lawyer, researcher, and a faculty member at the University of Waterloo and Osgoode Hall Law School. Their conversation delves into the nuances of AI in legal practices, emphasizing the significant impacts and potential pitfalls of AI tools like ChatGPT in legal documentation and court proceedings. Dr. Grossman's experience at the intersection of technology and law, including pioneering work in eDiscovery and Technology Assisted Review (TAR) provides a compelling perspective on the evolution of legal tech and its future trajectory. LINKS: Episode post: https://www.askai.org/post/e52-what-is-the-role-of-artificial-intelligence-in-modern-legal-systems Podcast version: https://www.askai.org/podcast THANKING OUR SPONSOR: Sincere thanks to series sponsor Cinchy, the enterprise Data Collaboration Platform that provides the cure for data complexity. ABOUT ASK AI: Ask AI is an independent nonprofit that's been dedicated to helping students, startups, and working professionals stay one step ahead of artificial intelligence disruption since 2017. Our volunteers produce a popular newsletter, podcast, videos, free events, and open research. Visit our website to subscribe and learn more about volunteering, content collaborations, and sponsorship opportunities. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ask-ai/message

At first glance, the use of AI tools and the goal of delivering increasingly person-focused healthcare might seem at odds, and that might be true except for the fact that treating patients has become incredibly complicated. Combine that with a global shortage of healthcare professionals and suddendly a clearer role for artificial intelligence begins to emerge. In this episode, we meet Dr. Alexandra T. Greenhill, Founder, CEO, and Chief Medical Officer of Careteam Technologies to explore how she navigates the complexities of AI in healthcare, bridging the gap between what is possible and what's happening. Visit our episode post to get links to the podcast version and much more: https://www.askai.org/post/e51-how-is-ai-supporting-human-centered-healthcare Enterprise Data Collaboration? It's Cinchy! Special thanks to our series sponsor Cinchy, the enterprise Data Collaboration Platform that enables people, systems, and AI models to co-produce intelligent data products that can be reused for unlimited IT delivery projects while eliminating data integration and making it virtually impossible for people or AI models to violate data protection controls. Visit: https://link.cinchy.com/nehj Interested in artificial intelligence? ⁠⁠Subscribe to the Ask AI newsletter⁠⁠ to stay on top of news, people, and events PLUS receive our original content, open research, and special offers. Visit: https://www.askai.org --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ask-ai/message

If an AI model at a university performs an analysis of a large dataset and detects a new pattern, or generates a fresh insight, who should get the credit? The algorithm? The academic? Both? Academic integrity is just one of the many ways in which artificial intelligence is poised to disrupt the lives of instructors and researchers at our top universities. Tune into this episode of the Ask AI podcast as host Melissa Kagiannakis sits down with Dr. Christian Blouin, the Institutional Lead for AI Strategy at Dalhousie University, to learn how he is supporting its faculty though the disruption created by artificial intelligence. Visit our episode post to get links to the podcast version and related episodes: https://www.askai.org/post/e50-how-should-artificial-intelligence-be-used-in-universities Responsible AI for the enterprise? It's Cinchy! Special thanks to our series sponsor Cinchy, the enterprise Data Collaboration Platform that enables people, systems, and AI models to co-produce intelligent data products that can be reused for unlimited IT delivery projects while eliminating data integration and making it virtually impossible for people or AI models to violate data protection controls. Visit: https://link.cinchy.com/nehj Interested in artificial intelligence? Subscribe to the Ask AI newsletter⁠⁠ to stay on top of news, people, and events PLUS receive our latest content, open research, and special offers. Visit: https://www.askai.org --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ask-ai/message

Catch the Ask AI interview with Joelle Pineau, Vice President of AI Research at Meta, to learn about her AI journey, her work leading Meta's FAIR teams from Montréal, and the importance of repeatability, openness, and diversity in AI research. Special thanks to our series sponsor Cinchy, the enterprise Data Collaboration Platform that enables people, systems, and AI models to co-produce intelligent data products that can be reused for unlimited IT delivery projects while eliminating data integration and making it virtually impossible for people or AI models to violate data protection controls. Interested in artificial intelligence? ⁠Subscribe to the Ask AI newsletter⁠ to stay on top of news, people, and events PLUS receive our latest content, open research, and special offers. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ask-ai/message

Tune in to this Ask AI check-in as host Carolyne Pelletier meets David MacLaren, CEO and Founder of MediaValet to ask the question: How is AI being used to extend the impact of Dr. Jane Goodall's research? Watch the video and get all the links from the episode post.

Catch the Ask AI interview with Stephany Lapierre, CEO and founder of Tealbook, the supplier data foundation that uses AI and ML to enable supply-side innovation and power e-procurement tech stacks. Get all the links from our episode post

Catch the Ask AI interview with Amit Deshwar, VP and Head of Predictive Systems at Deep Genomics, the AI Workbench used to prioritize transformational RNA therapeutics for genetic diseases. Get all the links from our episode post

Catch the Ask AI interview with Liran Belenzon, co-founder & CEO of BenchSci, the AI-assisted application accelerating science at 16 of the top 20 pharmaceutical companies and over 4,500 research centers worldwide. Visit our episode post to get all the links.

Tune in to this Ask AI interview as our host Melissa Kargianakkis meets Monish Gandhi, Founder & CEO of Gradient Ascent AI, to ask the question: Why are all businesses destined to become AI businesses? Visit our episode post to get all the links

Catch this Ask AI interview with Arooj Ahmed Qureshi, Data Scientist at EnPowered, the Waterloo-based energy payment platform that predicts spikes in electricity prices, allowing customers to shift usage to save on average 48% on electricity costs while also reducing emissions. Click here to get all the links and stream the video from our episode post.

Catch this Ask AI team check-in with Yves Daoust, Founder and CTO at Winter Farm who were awarded $2.9M to use AI/ML to optimize greenhouse-based food production. Click here to get all the links and stream the video from our episode post.

Catch this Team Check-in with Greg Johnston, President of Carl Data Solutions, the Vancouver-based predictive analytics startup that recently signed an environmental monitoring deal with Los Angeles Sanitation Districts, a utility that serves over 5.6 million people. Get all the links and steam the video version from our episode post: https://www.askai.org/post/e41-how-is-ai-powering-environmental-monitoring-in-major-cities

Tune in to this episode of the Ask AI podcast as our host Melissa Kargiannakis sits down with Dr. Alona Fyshe, Assistant Professor at University of Alberta to ask the question: How can brain activity improve how we teach computers to talk? Click here to get all the links from our episode post.

Catch this Team Check-in with Ivan Zhang, co-founder at Cohere, the Toronto NLP startup that recently raised $125M in its Series B round and hired an AI leader from Apple to head up its new office in Palo Alto. Get all the links and download as a podcast from our episode post: https://www.askai.org/post/e39-how-is-cohere-building-a-global-nlp-powerhouse

The first stethoscope was invented in 1819 by the French physician R.T.H. Laënnec who in described the use of a "perforated wooden cylinder" to transmit sounds from the patient's chest to the physician's ear. Tune in to this episode of the Ask AI podcast as host Melissa Kargianakkis sits down with Dr. Jacob Jaremko, University of Alberta professor, Canada CIFAR AI Chair, and Co-founder, Medo.ai to ask: How is artificial intelligence helping to create a stethoscope for the 21st century? Click here to get all the links and download as a podcast

Tune in to this episode of the Ask AI podcast as host Jaxson Khan sits down with Dr. Samuel Aparicio, the Chair in Breast Cancer Research at the University of British Columbia (UBC) and Head of the BC Cancer Research Institute Department of Breast and Molecular Oncology to ask the question: How can AI be used to help predict breast cancer? Get all the links from our episode post: https://www.askai.org/post/e37-how-is-ai-being-used-to-help-predict-breast-cancer Farewell, Jaxson! This is an especially poignant show because it's also Jaxson Khan's farewell interview with the Ask AI podcast. We cannot thank Jax enough for inspiring this podcast and being such an awesome and generous volunteer at our show. He has been a passionate supporter of Canada's Artificial Intelligence sector for many years and we wish him nothing but the best of luck in the future! We'll miss you lots Jax, please stay in touch!

Medical device manufacturers are now using AI to innovate their products to better assist healthcare providers and improve patient care. But clearly there are risks to be overcome. Tune in to this episode as our Team Check-In host Carolyne Pelletier sits dow with David Boudreau, Director General of Medical Devices at Health Canada to ask the question: How can AI-augmented medical devices be made safer? Get all the story links and more from our episode post: https://www.askai.org/post/e36-check-in-with-medical-devices-team-at-health-canada

Tune in to this episode of the Ask AI podcast as our host Melissa Kargiannakis sits down with Cory Janssen, Co-CEO and Co-founder at AltaML to ask the question: How is applied (and responsible) AI impacting enterprise competitiveness? Get all the links from our episode post: https://www.askai.org/post/e35-how-is-applied-and-responsible-ai-impacting-enterprise-competitiveness About AltaML Founded in 2018, AltaML (short for Alberta Machine Learning) is a start-up that was initiated, in part, to leverage the World-class AI/ML talent emerging from the University of Alberta (which is also home to Richard Sutton aka the 'father of reinforcement learning'). With a mandate to advance the Responsible AI ethos, AltaML's customers are primarily enterprise organizations in healthcare, oil and gas, and construction that are undergoing a process of digital transformation and looking for predictive value from their data.

While many healthcare organizations have adopted virtual care to reach patients during COVID-19, these solutions lack the high resolution, scientifically calibrated images, sub-millimeter accuracy, and proper lighting that are critical to remotely assessing and treating wounds. Tune in to this Team Check-In as host Carolyne Pelletier checks in with Justin Allport, Chief Engineer and Co-Founder at Swift Medical to ask the question: How is AI advancing bedside wound treatment (and reducing patient exposure to COVID-19)? Get podcast download and story links from our episode post: https://www.askai.org/post/e34-how-is-ai-advancing-bedside-wound-treatment ABOUT ASK AI Ask AI is a volunteer project exploring the fast-emerging artificial intelligence sector. Our projects include thought leader interviews, team check-ins, and live events. To learn more about sponsorships, guest blogs, and volunteering, please contact us or ask our chatbot. Visit: askai.org

The Ask AI interview with Roxana Sultan, Vice President of Health at Toronto's World-renowned Vector Institute. Get all the links from our episode post: https://www.askai.org//post/e33-is-ai-poised-to-make-major-breakthroughs-in-healthcare

Any oil spill is disastrous — ecologically, economically, and socially. Transport Canada estimates that there are approximately 20,000 oil tanker movements off the coasts of Canada each year, mostly on the Atlantic coast. Tune in to this Ask AI Team Check-In as host Carolyne Pelletier checks in with Saeed Mohammadiun and Guanji Hu of the UBC Life Cycle Management Lab to ask the question: How can AI help to mitigate catastrophic oil spills? Watch the video on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8THKoP5uYwI Visit our episode post to get all the links: https://www.askai.org/post/e32-how-can-ai-help-to-mitigate-catastrophic-oil-spills

Tune in to this episode of the Ask AI podcast as host Jaxson Khan sits down with Mark Speaker, an industry leader with over 20 years of experience in guiding digital transformation and technology innovation to ask the question: How can AI make a positive impact in carbon-intensive industries? Get all the links from our episode post: https://www.askai.org/post/episode-31-how-can-ai-make-an-impact-in-carbon-intensive-industries Mark's remit is to support operational progress (including field worker productivity, industrial data collection and measurement, and the creation of digital twins) in critical economic sectors including utilities, oil and gas, forestry, pulp and paper, mining and manufacturing.

NEW FORMAT! Check out the first episode in our new "Team Check-Ins" where host Carolyne Pelletier drops in on some of the most advanced teams working in #ArtificiaIntelligence today. In this first show, she speaks with Bruce Duong, P.Eng. from the DICE team at Alberta Innovates to ask: How will the DICE program help Canada's energy industry? Visit our blog to get the links that inspired the Ask AI team to get in touch. #Canada #artificialintelligence ##energysector #energynews

Ask AI host Jaxson Khan sits down with Lawrence Richer, Vice-Dean, Clinical Research University of Alberta to ask the question: How do clinical researchers approach artificial intelligence technology? Get all the links from our episode post. ABOUT ASK AI Ask AI is a volunteer project exploring Canada's fast-emerging artificial intelligence sector. Our projects include thought leader interviews, team check-ins, and live events. To learn more about sponsorships, guest blogs, and volunteering, please contact us or ask our chatbot. Visit: https://www.askai.org/

Tune in to this episode of the Ask AI podcast as host Melissa Kargiannakis sits down with Manal Siddiqui, CEO, and Pietro Gagliano, Chief Vision Officer at Transitional Forms to ask the question: How will AI create immersive content for the metaverse? It's an enlightening glimpse into the inner workings of this studio-lab that's creating the future of entertainment with Artificial Intelligence. Get the episode post with all links: askai.org

Click here to get all the links from our episode post. Any organization with an IT team that consists of more than a few people faces the same question with virtually every new digital project: "Should we build, or buy?". It's a ligitimate dilemma, with customization and IP assets on one side being weighed against lower cost and faster time-to-market on the other. That said, once SalesForce kicked off the era of SaaS applications 20 years ago, the decision has increasingly been "buy". But when it comes to AI/ML projects, for all but the very largest organizations, the "build vs. buy" question has not traditionally been up for much debate. This is because the sheer volume of data required to undertake algorithmic training has been primarily the reserve of governments, universities, global finanacial institutions, and a handful of tech giants (who generally license parts of their AI/ML tech to startups and research teams). Furthermore, the high salaries and relative dearth of data science and data modelling talent has created real barriers to self-build AI project. But what if someone else could build your AI/ML solution, similar to how thousands of organizations outsourced their websites and mobile apps to specialist agencies and "dev shops"? Ask AI podcast host Melissa Kargiannakis sat down with Matthew Reyes, Co-founder, Hypotenuse Labs, and asked the question: How does an AI consultancy work? ABOUT ASK AI Ask AI is a volunteer project that's increasing awareness and understanding of Canada's artificial intelligence sector. Our projects include a podcast, chatbot, newsletter, and events. To learn more about sponsorship and volunteering please contact us or ask our chatbot, Emily. Visit: askai.org

Ask AI host Jaxson Khan sits down with Anna Kazantseva, Research Officer for Indigenous Language Technologies at the National Research Council and asked the question: Can AI help to preserve indigenous languages? Visit our episode post to get all the story links: https://www.askai.org/post/episode-26-can-ai-help-preserve-indigenous-languages ABOUT ASK AI Ask AI is a volunteer project that's increasing awareness and understanding of Canada's artificial intelligence sector. Our projects include a podcast, chatbot, newsletter, and events. To learn more about sponsorship and volunteering please contact us or ask our chatbot, Emily. Visit: askai.org

Tune into this episode of the Ask AI podcast where we sit down with Stéphane Létourneau, Executive Vice President at Mila, the Montreal Institute for Learning Algorithms, to discuss the growth of the research center over the years, its impact on the Canadian AI ecosystem, and where it's headed. To get all the show links, visit our website: askai.org

Ashley Casovan is the Executive Director at AI Global, a nonprofit dedicated to providing the tools and resources to implement the responsible use of artificial intelligence systems. Previously, during her time serving as the Director of Data and Innovation at the Government of Canada, Ashley drove the development of the Directive on Automated Decision-Making - Canada's first policy on the use of AI systems within the government. She also led the development and implementation of Canada's Open Government Portal, gaining her strong reputation as a pioneer in Canadian national AI strategy and data governance. Tune into this episode of the Ask AI podcast to catch our interview with Ashley Casovan, the Executive Director at AI Global and a pioneer who has helped to shape public policy for responsible artificial intelligence in Canada.

Dr. Carolyn Watters joined the NRC in February 2019 as the  inaugural Chief Digital Research Officer. She has oversight of the Digital Technologies Research Centre, one of the 14 research centres which form Canada National Research Council. The DTRC has a focus on artificial intelligence, machine learning, data analytics, and bio analytics and their work also includes research into ethical AI and open data.   Carolyn is a full professor in the Faculty of Computer Science at Dalhousie University, specializing in human-to-computer engagement in information spaces ranging from documents to social media. Dr. Watters is also a founding member of CALDO, a consortium of Canadian and Latin American research universities and is strongly committed to improving gender and diversity in STEM . Tune in to this episode of the Ask AI podcast and learn how Dr. Carolyn Watters, Chief Digital Research Officer and Head of the Digital Technologies Research Centre at the Canadian National Research Council is working to support scientific discovery and business innovation in Canada, including pioneering work in machine learning, computer vision, and ethical AI.

Almost half of Canadian and American adults (aged 18-65) have literacy levels considered as low, meaning that they can read, but not well enough to fill an online job application. When you hit over the age of 65, that number doubles. Our literacy level changes over the course of our lives and organizations must understand the importance of making language accessible for their employees and customers. Tune in to this episode of the Ask AI podcast and learn how Melissa Kargiannakis, Founder and CEO of Skritswap helps organizations simplify the way they communicate by applying artificial intelligence to complex documents and jargon in order to help make language clear, accessible and easy-to-understand.

The online e-commerce experience is more important than ever. With the hit of the COVID-19 pandemic, consumers have been forced to become reliant on digital products and services. As brands shift online to meet their customers, how can they find the balance between maintaining relationship experiences created in traditional brick and mortar, while transitioning to the transactional nature of online services? In this episode of Ask AI podcast, we sit down with Henry Shi, Co-Founder at SnapTravel to learn more about their AI-powered messaging platform for booking hotels. Discover how SnapTravel is leveraging artificial intelligence to power the next evolution of e-commerce known as relationship-driven commerce, and how they have managed to thrive during the pandemic.

Special thanks to Microsoft Canada and Cinchy for sponsoring the show and actively supporting increased awareness and understanding of Canada’s artificial intelligence sector. Founded in 2016, Element AI started with the goal of supporting collaboration between decision makers and machines to ultimately help operationalize AI within large enterprises. In just four years, this Canadian-based AI-company has attracted global attention for its world-class AI research team and raised just over $250 million USD in funding. With the hit of the global pandemic, organizations are now forced to accelerate their investments in artificial intelligence and digitalize their business with strong technological infrastructure. Luckily, Element AI is at the forefront of AI innovation in Canada to provide enterprises with the guidance needed to operationalize artificial intelligence while taking into consideration the governance and ethics of AI. Tune into this episode of the Ask AI podcast and catch-up with Jean-François Gagné, CEO of Element AI, one of the World’s largest AI startups. We explore his thoughts on how COVID-19 has impacted the AI sector in terms of governance, privacy, and ethics. We also explore his perspective on the role of government in enabling artificial intelligence and machine learning innovation.

A recent study of 600 leading Canadian businesses conducted by Borealis AI revealed that 93 percent of them encountered significant barriers to implementing ethical considerations within artificial intelligence. This is of particular concern when you consider that many corporate and public sector organizations have already begun to shift decision-making powers to machine learning algorithms. In this episode of the Ask AI podcast, host Jaxson Khan speaks with Dr. Foteini Agrafioti, Head of Borealis AI and RBC's Chief Science Officer who has created an openly available online hub that provides AI developers and researchers with scientific research, research code, and training materials to support the inclusion of ethical dimensions within their projects.

Water is absolutely essential to life as we know it. Sometimes described as the universal solvent, water has an amazing ability to dissolve a wide variety of molecules and for this reason it was the perfect basis of the primordial soup from which life on our planet sprung. On a biological level, water provides the versatile delivery system for the transportation of substances like oxygen and nutrients between cells. It's also finite, so it is probably a pretty good idea that we use every tool at our disposal to help conserve it. Tune in to this episode of the Ask AI podcast and learn how Naysan Saran, CEO and co-founder of Montreal-based CannForecast is applying artificial intelligence to improve safety at beaches and predict pipe maintenance to help conserve this precious, life giving substance.

How is a Data Fabric used to accelerate AI projects? As AI/ML technology continues to spring from the relative isolation of research labs into the real-world (aka AI operationalization) it finds itself entering a marketplace already awash with applications. A recent study on the state of the SaaS market reported that even small businesses now manage over 80 SaaS applications and in the enterprise sector this number can easily exceed 5,000 or more. To non-IT folks, these may not seem like a crazy numbers, but ask anyone who has built a new app or system and they will confirm the innovation tax that applications impose on development projects. In fact, the process of integrating data from pre-existing apps and systems now represents 40 percent of IT delivery budgets and can take months (or even years) to complete for any given project. So this is the environment that Canadian startups and public sector teams must navigate as they seek to deploy their AI ML technologies. But while the sheer cost and complexity of integration can be a huge barrier to market, new advances in data management technology have emerged that aim to make traditional integration a thing of the past. Tune in to this episode of the Ask AI podcast and learn how Dan DeMers, CEO and co-founder of Toronto-based Cinchy, has taken inspiration from the network-based design of the brain to develop Data Fabric platform technology that eliminates traditional integration, accelerates AI ML projects, and supports collaborative intelligence. If you have questions about this episode or want to send a question to appear on a future episode, please send an email to info@askai.org or tweet to askaiorg.

The Canadian startup landscape contains a whole series of terms that are unfamiliar to most people. Tell someone that you work out of an incubator and they could be forgiven for thinking that you are some kind of pediatric healthcare professional. But incubators, innovation hubs, accelerators, startup bootcamps, and technology labs are all essential parts of an ecosystem that has been created to manage the specific risks faced by Canadian startups at different stages of their growth. Artificial intelligence itself is a highly-specialized sector which not only carries particularly high technical and commercial risks but also unique ethical challenges, and so what we have seen is the emergence of a specialized ecosystem in Canada to support its specific needs. Organizations such as Toronto s Next AI, Montreal s MILA, and Edmonton s AMII all fit into this category. Check out this Ask AI interview featuring Joe Canavan, CEO of Next AI, one of Canadas premier accelerators, and Patricia Thaine, CEO of Private AI (and member of the Next AI program) that are using AI to make leading-edge privacy tools easier for developers to incorporate into their product designs. If you have questions about this episode or if you would like to send a question that could appear on a future episode, please send us an email to info@askai.org or tweet us at askaiorg.

Can artificial intelligence improve personal navigation? The Ask AI interview with Bin Liu, CEO & co-founder, iMerciv Let’s face it, the World is a pretty crowded place. Recent estimates now place the global population at over 7.8 billion, which is an incredible number of people navigating to work, school, and social events each day. Equally staggering is the UN projection that over 68% of us will be living in urban environments within the next 30 years. Over recent years, we have all heard how vehicles are using machine intelligence (and 5G) to navigate our roads, but little has been shared about the impact that AI technologies will have on the billions of people who rely on the “foot-mobile” as their primary mode of transportation. As our cities grow increasingly dense (and in some cases more dangerous) they also present new obstacles in the form of construction, congestion, and multi-modal transportation. This trend presents the greatest challenge for people with vision loss and mobility issues, however, the COVID-19 pandemic has also introduced navigation issues for billions of urban dwellers who want to find ways to reduce their risk of exposure on sidewalks, pathways, and public spaces. Tune in to this episode of Ask AI and learn how Bin Liu, CEO and co-founder of Toronto-based iMerciv is using machine learning to augment the pedestrian experience for people with vision loss and helping city-dwellers reduce their exposure to COVID-19.

Over the last few years, we’ve seen the trade and supply of data increase, with more and more of it being generated and leveraged by all industries and organizations.  Particularly in this era of innovation, data is essential, and as usage continues to skyrocket, the consideration of how its being collected and how its being used is more important than ever.  The importance of good data in AI Everyone is talking about transforming their organization with artificial intelligence. Whether its automating mundane tasks or building predictive analytics, these machines are all fuelled by data.  However, while there is great opportunity to make a positive impact with emerging technologies, there is also great risk of getting it wrong.  This makes it critical for organizations to understand and have a good data strategy before even considering implementing AI. This is where Carole Piovesan, Co-founder and Partner at INQ Data Law comes in to help.  With over a decade of experience in governmental policies and data law, Carole specializes in helping organizations not only on the legal side, but also the privacy and governance of data pertaining to AI.  In this podcast episode, Carole dives into how organizations can start mapping their data and building in ethics from the beginning. She emphasizes why it’s so important to take a sustained approach to data-use and how the Canadian government supports it.  What You’ll Hear Carole’s journey of starting INQ Data Law that specializes in data policies and AI.  How the world of data in business has changed over the years and is driving this new era of innovation. The importance for organizations to have regulations and guardrails in place when it comes to data-use.  Exercises and frameworks organizations can apply to start mapping their data strategy. 

This Ask AI interview with Carole Piovesan, Co-founder and Partner at INQ Data Law. With over a decade of experience in governmental policies and data law, Carole specializes in helping organizations not only on the legal side, but also the privacy and governance of data pertaining to AI.

One of the simplest, most basic application of artificial intelligence that we see today is for task automation – to remove repetitive and monotonous activity.   In the legal world, this comes in the form of document review and analysis, like Kira Systems. Instead of sifting through pages of documents to find potential risk, Kira automatically highlights and extracts the most important sections of a contract. Rather than trying to find a "needle in a haystack", lawyers can more effectively and efficiently review documents. While it seems like a no-brainer to use this tool to improve productivity, there is still the need for lawyers to ultimately understand the context and semantics of the documents being reviewed.  Especially when the potential risk associated to the task is high, building trust into a machine to do the work is imperative in the human-AI collaboration. Interpretability vs. explainability When designing for machine learning products and features like this, understanding mental models is crucial. Users need to feel like they understand how the machine came up with the result.  For Winter Wei, Design Lead at Kira Systems, this means its her responsibility to help users interpret what they are seeing. In this podcast episode, we speak to Winter about how she designs trust into the machine learning features at Kira Systems. She dives into the importance of designing in a way that users can interpret and explain the results they are seeing.  What You’ll Hear How she applied her background in science and statistics to now designing products. The “needle in a haystack” challenge Kira Systems is trying to solve in the legal industry with artificial intelligence. Why trust is so important in machine learning products and how to incorporate it into the user-design process.   How designing for interpretability and explainability can solve the back box problem in AI. About Ask AI  Ask AI is an educational nonprofit with a mission to increase connections and inclusiveness within Canada’s artificial intelligence sector. Our volunteer-run projects include hosted events, the Ask AI podcast, our chatbot, and the Ask AI newsletter. To learn more, and get information on sponsorships and volunteering just ask our bot!

Who Says Accountants Are Boring? Well, basically everyone. But if you live in Canada, you’ve probably seen those TV ads that are trying their very best to convince us all otherwise.  To be fair, in an increasingly complex world, having skills with money, data, fraud, and regulation is probably a good way to set yourself up with a job for life, and that in itself probably sounds pretty exciting to a lot of people. And now, thanks to applied AI technology, there’s some more good news on the horizon. Surely, one of the most tedious aspects of accountancy has always been the much maligned audit. Trolling though mountains of ledgers and books to spot mistakes, both deliberate and accidental, while business folks look on in dread is a tough sell for anyone. So it was inevitable that someone would come along an apply machine learning to this repetitive, data-heavy process, and in Canada, that person is Eli Fahti, the CEO of Ottawa’s MindBridge AI. A lifelong serial entrepreneur with an admirable track record of innovation, exits, and mentoring, Eli is a true gem of Canada’s tech sector. Tune in to this episode to learn how Eli and this Ottawa company is leading Canada's charge into the multi-billion dollar Global accountancy and auditing tech sector. What You’ll Hear Eli's startup journey which includes starting MindBridge with just a single employee and a good hunch. Why the accountancy industry has become a diamond, but needs to return to being a triangle. The numbers behind the incredible opportunity that Canadian women represent for out tech industry. The forces that make growing a startup in Canada so challenging. The Montreal Declaration and what it means to build an ethical AI company in Canada. About Ask AI Ask AI is an educational nonprofit with a mission to increase connections and inclusiveness within Canada’s artificial intelligence sector. Our volunteer-run projects include hosted events, the Ask AI podcast, our chatbot, and the Ask AI newsletter. To learn more, and get information on sponsorships and volunteering just ask our bot!  

Canada’s Chief Information Officer is probably not what you expect. For starters, speaking with Alex Benay feels more like talking with a tech startup founder than a senior government official. It’s is not just in the passion for what he does, which is obvious, but the disarmingly direct way that he handles the tough questions associated with the development of Canada’s AI sector. In short, it’s refreshing to hear plain talk from one of our country’s top AI influencers when it comes to issues like gender balance in the workforce, bias in training data, and the use of citizen data. This distinctly un-bureaucratic approach may have something to do with a non-traditional career path. Leaving an early fast-track position in the public service for major role in the tech sector, he then returned to the Feds to take on the challenge of updating our national museums. Tune in to this episode to learn about innovation inside Canada’s Federal Government and to get a fascinating glimpse into the mind of one of the key leaders of its mission to modernize. Our listeners can get a full view on Canada’s approach to AI by checking out our recent episode featuring Michael Karlin, the Treasury advisor working under Alex Benay who made international waves last year when drafting Canada’s AI policy as a Google Doc. Also be sure to catch our conversation with Dr. Elissa Strome, the head of the Pan-Canadian AI strategy at CIFAR and learn how one of our top scientific bodies is fighting the threat of AI brain drain.

An Amazing AI Journey Our conversation with Ozge Yeloglu, Lead Data Scientist at Microsoft Canada Ozge Yeloglu has had to work hard to get to where she is today. From a young age in Turkey, she had a keen interest in computers, despite not having access to one at home.  But that didn’t stop her from following her passion. In 1999, when she began her computer science degree, she still didn’t own a computer (or even know what a floppy disk was), but she persevered. As an undergraduate, she struggled to find an outlet for her love of programming and computing technology, but a pivotal moment came in 2004 when a professor handed her a book on neural networks. That single gesture started Ozge on a journey that would eventually see her leading the data and AI teams for one of biggest players in Canadian technology. In 2016, Ozge was hired as the first data scientist at Microsoft Canada with a focus on building analytics solutions for some of the biggest financial services companies in the country. In just over two years, she has expanded the team to 11 members and continues to work on changing the technology landscape for enterprise customers, while being the voice of AI at Microsoft Canada. Tune in to this episode as host Jaxson Khan (Nudge AI) learns more about Ozge's fascinating journey and her unique perspectives on artificial intelligence. 

AI & The Future of Work In Canada Our chat with Dr. Wendy Cukier (Ryerson Diversity Institute) and Mark Patterson (Magnet) There’s no question that as artificial intelligence, robotics, and digitization expand into the  workplace, it will have a major impact on the way Canadians work. Recent data from the World Economic Forum’s “The Future of Jobs Report” estimates that machines and automated software will handle 50% of all workplace functions within seven years and could displace 75 million jobs. However, it’s not all doom and gloom, as the same study also estimates that AI will add 133 million jobs globally. Along similar lines, a 2018 research paper by RBC entitled “Humans Wanted – How Canadian youth can thrive in the age of disruption” estimates that automation will impact 50% of Canadian jobs in the next 10 years. So that’s two major studies pointing to a massive increase in Canadian workplace automation in the next 10 years and this comes despite the breaking news that Canadian businesses are apparently laggards when it comes to AI adoption. How Will This Affect Skills? In a recent podcast episode, we spoke with Dr. Elissa Strome about how the $125M Pan-Canadian AI Strategy (and the $1B commitment to develop five “supercluster” regions of excellence) that will help Canada retain key talent at the top levels of AI research. Given we're not all machine learning PhDs, how is the typical Canadian student or worker meant to prepare for automation? How will they be supported in navigating the rapid changes that increased workplace automation will bring? In this first episode of our second series of the Ask AI podcast, we feature an in-depth discussion with Dr. Wendy Cukier, Director of the Diversity Institute at Ryerson University, and Mark Patterson, Executive Director of Magnet, the employment marketplace. Both Magnet and the Diversity Institute are part of the Canadian "work-integrated learning" ecosystem and have partnered with industry and government to deliver programs such as ASPIRE, which is powered by Magnet’s platform, and ADaPT, developed and analysed by the Diversity Institute. Tune in to this episode as host Jaxson Khan (Nudge AI) dives into some of the most pressing issues surrounding diversity, artificial intelligence, and workplace automation in Canada.   What You'll Learn What steps can be taken to help Canadians transition their career paths in order to adapt to AI   How AI will affect Canadian workers and our economic growth   The types of jobs the AI industry creates, the type of skill sets they require   What AI and increased automation means for Canadians who have yet to enter the labour market   Episode Links   Diversity Institute: https://www.ryerson.ca/diversity Diversity Institute on Twitter: https://twitter.com/RyersonDI Magnet: https://magnet.today Magnet on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MagnetToday   Episode Credits   Host: Jaxson Khan Senior Producer: Mike Letourneau Executive Producer: Chris McLellan   About Ask AI   Ask AI is an educational nonprofit with a mission to increase learning, participation, and inclusiveness within Canada’s artificial intelligence and future skills initiatives.   Our volunteer-run projects include events in Toronto and Ottawa, the Ask AI podcast, and a helpful chatbot. Visit http://askai.org   Podcast Player Links   iTunes: https://apple.co/2JfGlXE YouTube: http://bit.ly/2JdexmE Google Play: http://bit.ly/2mcfsux Google Podcasts: http://bit.ly/2vbRLrb Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2m9nGU7 Soundcloud: http://bit.ly/2ueyFQx

With a career at Microsoft Canada spanning more than 20 years, Gladstone Grant is far from standing still. This veteran of the Canadian tech sector is a lively and thoughtful advocate of artificial intelligence in Canada and doing a great deal of work to build bridges between researchers, the business community, and entrepreneurs. Global Tech Giants With platforms such as Cortana / Windows 10 in the market and the expansion of their AI research facilities in Montreal earlier this year there’s no question that Microsoft is very much in the thick of the AI scene in Canada. But exactly what does the involvement of the tech giants represent to the development of AI in Canada? Are they potential roadblocks to innovation? Will they bring an unwelcome bias to their projects? Or are they essential supporters to research labs and startups? Tune in as Gladstone makes an passionate case for companies like Microsoft to play a positive and productive role in Canadian artificial intelligence.   Episode Highlights   Startups versus corporate expertise in AI: 9 mins 31 secs   Three things that brought AI to the tipping point: 11 mins 16 secs   Open Source as a “first class citizen”: 15 mins 39 sec   Microsoft’s invitation to Canadian startups: 27 mins 12 sec   Episode Links   Gladstone on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GladstoneGrant   Microsoft Technology Centres: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/mtc Gartner CIO Summit: https://www.gartner.com/en/conferences/na/symposium-canada   Ask AI Chatbot Get all the details of this episode and connect with hundreds of people, companies, and free resources in the Ask AI Chatbot: http://askai.org/chatbot   Episode Credits Host: Jaxson Khan Senior Producer: Mike Letourneau Recording: Robyn Edgar Executive Producer: Chris McLellan   Podcast Players iTunes: https://apple.co/2JfGlXE YouTube: http://bit.ly/2JdexmE Google Play: http://bit.ly/2mcfsux Google Podcasts: http://bit.ly/2vbRLrb Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2m9nGU7 Soundcloud: http://bit.ly/2ueyFQx   About Ask AI Ask AI has a mission to increase learning, participation, and inclusiveness within Canada’s artificial intelligence and future skills initiatives.   Our volunteer-run projects include events in Toronto and Ottawa, the Ask AI podcast, and a helpful chatbot. Visit http://askai.org