The day before the Intel Innovation 2022 conference sessions started, Intel hosted a hackathon event with the theme of "AI for Social Good." Over 100 developers, including over 30% women, participated in this full-day event. Developers from companies such as Accenture, Deloitte, HSBC, Kia, Lucid Motors, Microsoft Intune, Oracle, Twitter, US Air Force, and Vanguard participated. And students from Northeastern University, San Jose State University, Stanford University, University of California-Berkeley, University of California-Davis, and University of Manchester also competed. After the introductory training sessions, teams were drafted into one of three different competition tracks.

Recently, McGill's Office of Innovation asked bright, creative minds to make something that helps all of us live a little bit better in the first-ever AI4good Hackathon. In all, some 80 people took part in the event, which ran from 10 a.m. on Saturday, June 17, to 4 p.m. on Sunday, June 18. About a dozen participants pulled all-nighters, and most stayed until the wee hours, pouring over their computers and collaborating on their projects using AI to help people. The AI for Social Good Hackathon was part of the inaugural McGill AI For Social Good Summer Lab for Women. Angélique Manella, McGill's Associate Vice-Principal of Innovation and organizer of the event explains how the hackathon unfolded.