Sexual harassment is a pressing issue that won't go away. A survey published in January 2018 found that 81 percent of women and 43 percent of men experienced sexual harassment. Statistics from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission report that an estimated 75 percent of sexual harassment cases are not reported. That fact is due to a variety of factors. Some victims fear retaliation for speaking up or think the people they talk to won't believe them. Also, people in low-wage jobs who experience sexual harassment may feel it's useless to notify superiors about what happened because they lack bargaining power.

Dr. Yoshua Bengio, one of the key researchers credited with establishing the field of deep learning, announced today that he will serve as a strategy adviser for legal tech company Botler AI, a Montreal-based startup that runs a free chatbot to assist users as they navigate the legal procedures required for immigration. "I knew this was an idea that we needed to take to the next level," Bengio said in today's press release. "I want AI to be developed towards positive social impact and this is one place where beneficial AI must happen." The techniques pioneered by Bengio and others have led to breakthroughs in natural language comprehension and translation, abilities that are critical to this kind of chatbot. "Deep Learning could help provide affordable or even free legal services to people who might otherwise not be able to have access," he said.

A Montreal-based platform for sharing information aimed at incoming immigrants called Botler has been launched, developed by recent immigrants to Canada to help facilitate the process for new arrivals to help set up new lives. The platform is referred to as a "next generation" communications tool, using artificial intelligence and machine learning to facilitate group discussion in a hyper-organized and well-designed format. "This idea was born within a community of smart and highly skilled people who dream of a better life. They're willing to take big risks, give up everything and start over," said Botler's founder, Amir Moravej. "Still, so many prospective immigrants are using outdated, poorly designed messaging boards to ask and answer questions about the immigration process."