#alternate alternate alternate Global News Artificial Intelligence: Canada’s future of everything Feed Global News Feed -- Artificial Intelligence: Canada’s future of everything Artificial Intelligence By Megan Robinson & Mike Drolet Global News -- (BUTTON) Hide message bar Click to play video: 'Artificial Intelligence: Canada’s future of everything' 11:49 Artificial Intelligence: Canada’s future of everything WATCH: Artificial Intelligence is on the brink of revolutionizing virtually every facet of human existence and Canada is on the leading -- The New Reality, Mike Drolet explores some of the critical risks and the need for guardrails. And we take viewers inside how AI is improving our daily lives in ways that often remain undetectable – and certainly -- The AI revolution is here and it’s changing the world faster than anybody could have predicted. -- Whether that’s for better or worse depends on whom you ask. What’s undeniable is this — the only limitation on how AI will transform the world is us. Geoffrey Hinton, the so-called grandfather of AI, issued warnings this year, sounding the alarm about the existential threat of AI. -- York Times, announcing he had quit his job at Google to speak freely about the harm he believes AI will cause humanity. -- If Hinton is having a come-to-Jesus moment, he might be too late. Over 100 Million people use ChatGPT, a form of AI using technology he invented. That’s on top of the way AI is already interwoven into practically everything we do online. -- And while Toronto-based Hinton is one of the Canadian minds leading this industry — one which is growing exponentially — the circle of AI innovators remains small. Geoffrey Hinton, known as the "Godfather of AI," leaves the stage after speaking at the Collision conference in Toronto on Wednesday, June 28, 2023. View image in full screen Geoffrey Hinton, known as the ‘Godfather of AI,’ leaves the stage after speaking at the Collision conference in Toronto on June 28. THE -- Centre, our Global News team happened upon Hamayal Choudhry, founder and CEO of smartARM, the world’s first bionic arm for which AI uses cameras to dictate movement. -- Choudhry was in the store testing the glasses out for himself, curious to see if AI could be as big a disruptor in the world of glasses as he intends to make it in the world of prosthetics. -- smartARM is just one of many examples of how AI is on the brink of revolutionizing virtually every facet of human existence. Canada is on the leading edge, utilizing what AI can do from healthcare and education to airlines and entertainment. There are inherent risks with AI and a lack of regulation and oversight in Canada, but overall, AI is improving our daily lives in ways that may often remain undetectable. Hamayal Choudhry, founder and CEO of Canadian company smartARM, is trying on the new Ray-Ban AI glasses using Meta technology. He's got dark hair and is wearing a dark, long sleeved shirt. Choudhry happened -- Hamayal Choudhry, founder and CEO of Canadian company smartARM, tries on the new Ray-Ban AI glasses using Meta technology. Choudhry happened to be in the store when the Global News team for The New Reality was -- Canada’s AI pioneering dates back to the 1970s, when researchers formed the world’s first national AI association. The Canadian Artificial Intelligence Association (CAIAC) formerly known as the Canadian Society for the Computational Studies of Intelligence, -- leadership in research, development and education in Canada’s artificial intelligence community by facilitating the exchange of knowledge through various media and venues.” -- It held its first annual conference in 1976, three years before the American Association for Artificial Intelligence was founded. -- phone calls were expensive. When you look at the earlier proceedings, you will see a pool of talent that was leading the world in AI,” said Denilson Barbosa, current CAIAC president. -- Its archive is a treasure trove of AI history. Its magazine debut in 1984 talks about the potential and the influence of AI: “It is predictable that, awakening to their new place in the sun, AIers be distracted by sycophants, charlatans, and barmecides. Does the AIer grow frustrated with misconceptions about AI? You bet we do.” An excerpt from the September 1984 edition of the CAIAC Magazine. View -- An excerpt from the September 1984 edition of the CAIAC Magazine. Canadian Artificial Intelligence Association -- Alberta. Speaking by phone from Edmonton, Barbosa acknowledged that while Canada is slow to fully integrate AI, conservative in investing and implementing new technologies, he’s looking forward to the possibilities of AI in learning in school or for personal growth, including AI in classrooms. -- process — they would work on their own, and when they got stuck, they would get help from an always-available AI,” Barbosa said. -- extra help to those who need it the most.” People take photos of an AI robot at the All In Artificial Intelligence conference on Sept. 27 in Montreal. View image in full screen People take photos of an AI robot at the All In Artificial Intelligence conference on Sept. 27 in Montreal. THE CANADIAN PRESS / Ryan Remiorz When most people think of AI, robots from movies — who can think for themselves — come to mind. That’s known as deep learning AI, found in the software of autonomous cars, facial recognition, mass surveillance and yes, some robots. It’s the AI that has the potential to think for itself and that scares a lot of people. -- Then there’s the field where Canada is considered a leader: the broader technology of machine learning AI, which most people don’t realize we already use every day. It curates social media feeds, translates -- Under the umbrella of machine learning, is Generative AI. It generates new content that mimics the data it was trained on. -- “Generative AI allows you to tune the information in a way where now you can actually consume the information the way you want to based on -- Most Canadians can’t tell what’s human or AI. A study released in October by the Canadian Journalism Foundation found that half of us are not confident in distinguishing the difference between social media content generated by AI compared with content created by humans. This unknown is leading to a lot of fear and misinformation about what AI is and isn’t doing. But whether we’re ready, it’s poised to change nearly everything we do and Canada is already playing a leading role. -- full screen Deval Pandya, vice president of AI engineering at Vector Institute, is passionate about the role of digital technologies in accelerating -- In 2017, the federal government put $125 million of funding into AI, the first country to have a national AI strategy. The funding helped to create three world-renowned institutes to guide development in AI research in Montreal, Edmonton, and Toronto, and put Canada among the -- “For me, the biggest risk is not adopting AI and realizing its maximum potential,” said Deval Pandya, vice-president of AI engineering at Toronto’s Vector Institute, one of the institutes founded in 2017. “AI is a transformative technology that is going to make [the] world a much better place and help us solve some of the most pressing -- Vector Institute is an independent non-profit dedicated to AI research. It has partnerships with 20 university programs in Ontario with training focused on AI, providing startups with a steady stream of new workers. -- screen Jas Jaaj, Deloitte Canada’s managing partner of AI and data, oversees a team of AI strategists, data scientists, machine learning engineers, data engineers, and risk specialists. Brent Rose / Global News You don’t have to look far from the Vector Institute to see AI’s evolution. Jas Jaaj, a managing partner at Deloitte in Toronto who focuses on AI and data, believes AI will be to the 21st century what the steam engine was to the 18th century, what electricity was to the 19th century, and -- Professional services firms like Deloitte help companies find the next big thing. And these days, it doesn’t get bigger than AI. Global News got an exclusive look at one of the ways AI will change health care. It’s an AI nurse, assigned to newly discharged patients to help track their recovery care plan and progress. -- phase. This virtual nurse, powered by AI, was designed in partnership between Deloitte Canada and The Ottawa Hospital. It will follow up on post-op -- View image in full screen This virtual nurse, powered by AI, was designed in partnership between Deloitte Canada and The Ottawa Hospital. It will follow up on post-op -- Each AI nurse is unique to the patient. It has the information it requires to converse with a patient about their care and its skin tone, -- During the demo for Global News, the AI nurse asked: “Regarding your post-discharge medications, Tenzin and Lasix, do you have any questions -- Most importantly, the AI nurse is smart enough to flag problems for a human nurse or doctor to intercede. The goal of the AI nurse isn’t to replace human nurses, it’s to take tasks off their already full plates and allow them to perform higher-value work with more time. It can also lower readmission rates. Jaaj predicts 100 per cent of Canadian hospitals will begin to use AI in some way within the next few years. -- Regardless of the goal, it doesn’t stop one of the biggest concerns about progress in integrating AI into the Canadian workforce: job losses. -- Bruce Stamm, managing director of enterprise data and artificial intelligence at Air Canada, says the airline is using AI to optimize its flight scheduling. Next year, it hopes to also integrate AI into the maintenance schedule. View image in full screen Bruce Stamm, managing director of enterprise data and artificial intelligence at Air Canada, says the airline is using AI to optimize its flight scheduling. Next year, it hopes to also integrate AI into the maintenance schedule. Brent Rose / Global News -- While progress will have its casualties, Canada is very much in a position of relying on human input to use AI. AI can take on time-consuming tasks, freeing us up to solve more complicated problems. -- streamline its entire company by taking advantage of the power and efficiency AI creates. Its biggest challenge is tackling the thing we all hate most: delays. -- truth is, frustrations are all too common. Air Canada is hoping the use of AI will help. Brent Rose / Global News In late October, Stamm’s team started using AI to optimize its scheduling and predict delays. The program uses historical data and -- “AI and data are going to be part of our DNA just to do a lot more effective decision-making,” Stamm said. Next year, Air Canada plans to use AI to modernize its maintenance schedule for its fleet of about 200 planes. It will take into -- small startups are also launching very quickly. In the last year, hundreds of Canadian AI startups have hit the market. -- It mimics human tendencies, like hand-eye coordination, holding items, carrying heavy objects and lifting delicate ones. Using AI, Choudry said the prosthesis will inherently “know” how to handle something — -- at Ontario Tech University. Pedersen, a professor, author, and lab director, has more than 20 years of experience in researching AI and wearable technologies. Brent Rose / Global News -- Pedersen has been studying wearable technology for over 20 years. Even she is amazed at how fast AI has become embedded in our daily lives. “People went from never experiencing AI themselves to being able to use it on their phones, to use it on their laptops, use it at work, use it -- As with everything related to new technology, there are persistent concerns that AI is moving much faster than the guardrails being built for it. -- The federal government has a framework for proposed legislation, but The Artificial Intelligence and Data Act won’t come into force before 2025. Federal Minister of Innovation, Science, and Industry, -- released a voluntary code of conduct in late September for generative AI developers. In the absence of regulation, it is supposed to guide organizations to come up with an environment to self-regulate.