AI doesn't need more researchers, it needs more products

In the past 18 months, Toronto has become a magnet for artificial intelligence researchers, drawing some of the field's leading figures to set up labs here. Popular narratives suggest this brain gain will cement Canada's largest city in the top tier of global tech centres. But look beyond the hype, and warning lights are flashing that Toronto is headed in a different direction – more ivory tower than economic power. Toronto has to get better at turning its AI research into products customers want to buy – before somebody else does. Toronto has been developing a base of world-class research since the 1980s, including the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, the University of Toronto and, most recently, the Vector Institute.