When most people think of artificial intelligence (AI) they picture robots from Hollywood blockbusters or science fiction, but in reality, machine learning is already being used for many real-life applications. Parvin Mousavi, a professor in the Queen's School of Computing, is one of the researchers on the forefront of AI developments and is working to advance next generation medical interventions. In recognition of her leadership in the field, Dr. Mousavi was recently named as a Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR) Chair of Artificial Intelligence at the Vector Institute. The chairs will help advance Canadian leadership in priority areas under the Pan-Canadian Artificial Intelligence Strategy at CIFAR, which has identified AI for health as a priority area for growth. Broadly speaking, Dr. Mousavi's research focus is on using AI to better peoples lives, but a more in-depth look reveals a track record of advancing patient centric care, and data modelling using AI to increase the uptake of new methods used in clinical decision-making.

At RE•WORK, we are strong advocates for supporting women working towards advancing technology, so ahead of the upcoming Toronto AI Summit, on November 9-10, we set out to highlight inspirational women who are working at the forefront of AI developments, and who deserve recognition for their achievements. While we set out to create a list of just 20 – we couldn't narrow it down, as there are so many inspiring and prominent females in this space! Hear from many of them at our Toronto AI Summit, and more at our Women in AI Reception, both being held in Toronto next month. Help us to continue highlighting leading women in AI by nominating your influential woman for our next edition. RE•WORK holds Women in AI events, podcasts, and blogs. Get in touch if you'd like to collaborate or support our initiatives! Doina Precup is a researcher living in Montreal, Canada.

KT is looking to improve its artificial intelligence competitiveness through a partnership with Canada's Vector Institute, a nonprofit firm dedicated to AI research. According to KT, the two sides signed an agreement on research, development and business cooperation at the Vector Institute in Toronto on Thursday. The signing marked the first partnership between a South Korean company and the Vector Institute. KT said the partnership will focus on three main areas in the field of AI: joint R&D projects, foster professional talents and expanding the global AI ecosystem. For starters, the two sides will collaborate on applying voice recognition based on big data AI to KT AI services.

A few weeks ago, François-Philippe Champagne, Canada's Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, announced the launch of the second phase of the Pan-Canadian Artificial Intelligence Strategy. This second phase, which is expected to benefit from an investment of more than $443 million, aims to attract the best talent, increase cutting-edge research capacity, and foster the commercialization and adoption of AI. In 2017, the Canadian government was the first country to establish a national AI strategy. CIFAR, the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, was tasked with developing and leading this pan-Canadian strategy, initially funded with $125 million. CIFAR is working closely with the three national AI institutes: Mila in Montreal, the Vector Institute in Toronto and Amii in Edmonton, as well as with Canadian universities, hospitals and other organizations.

You might not notice it, but you've likely adopted artificial intelligence into your daily life. It can be as simple as personalizing your news feeds, searching for products on shopping sites or voice-to-text conversion on smartphones. It can also be applied to more sophisticated tasks like predicting court outcomes in cases involving employment law or used for robotic welding applications. The transformative power of AI is also an economic growth driver, which is why the Canadian government has given the green light to advancing the country's AI strategy. According to a recent announcement from Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry François-Philippe Champagne, more than $443 million in Budget 2021 is designated for the second phase of the pan-Canadian Artificial Intelligence Strategy.

Telecommunications giant Bell is entering a partnership with Vector Institute to advance research and applications relating to artificial intelligence. The institute is dedicated to studying AI and works with various companies and organizations to drive research and development. Bell notes this partnership will help the company continue innovating in the telecom sector and be a part of emerging AI technologies in Canada and across Bell. "Bell is thrilled to collaborate with Vector and the work they're doing in developing new research and expertise in artificial intelligence in Canada," John Watson, group president of customer experience, said in a statement. "Fostering the development of new technologies within our borders helps Canadian industry, and in turn, benefits Canadians. We are proud to help accelerate innovation in this field so that we can harness AI for applications at Bell."

This year, despite the challenges from the Covid-19 pandemic, large corporations in the financial industry are operationalizing their AI initiatives. Many mature organizations already have established processes. In the last few years, they've been implementing process workflows, software tools, and frameworks to quickly operationalize their models to capitalize on the changing business landscape. However, as the business environment changed during the Covid-19 pandemic, organizations observed changes in their models' underlying assumptions. The urgency to rapidly deploy new models in a controlled environment to account for the market risks and take advantage of new opportunities proved to be challenging.

Artificial Intelligence these days has become a new key driver of economic growth. It is a significant field in technology right now. While several countries are racing towards AI supremacy, Canada is attracting the world's tech giants that are pouring mammoth amounts in the region. The country is currently in the midst of the AI boom as companies like Microsoft, Facebook, Google, Huawei, among others are spending huge capital on research hubs in Quebec, Ontario and Alberta. Canada is a world research leader and home to extraordinary AI-driven businesses, and has played a vital role in the advancement of AI.

The world's tech powers are sending giant sums of money spinning into Canada, but while many see this as a sign of success, others are worried about researchers and intellectual property being swallowed wholesale. The country is in the midst of an artificial intelligence (AI) boom, with Google, Microsoft, Facebook, Huawei and other global heavyweights spending millions or even hundreds of millions of dollars on research hubs in Quebec, Ontario and Alberta. Canadian doors are open – some fear too open. Jim Hinton, an IP lawyer and founder of the Own Innovation consultancy, reckons that more than half of all AI patents in Canada end up being owned by foreign companies. What we need to be doing is getting money out of our ideas ourselves, instead of seeing foreign talent scoop it all up," said Hinton. "Otherwise we'll never have a Canadian champion." The country is home to hundreds of fledgling AI companies, including much-talked-about start-ups like Element AI and Deep Genomics, but they remain relatively small. "They don't have a strong market position yet," Hinton says. Deep learning pioneers such as Yoshua Bengio and Geoffrey Hinton (no relation to Jim) have nurtured top-notch talent in AI in Canada for years, back when AI was an emerging field. But despite Canadian inheriting this brilliant AI lead from the country's AI "godfathers", big foreign players have an unassailable advantage over homegrown efforts, Hinton said. "It's not an easy go for the average company to make a business out of AI.

Eight University of Toronto artificial intelligence researchers – four of whom are women – have been named CIFAR AI Chairs, a recognition of pioneering work in areas that could have global societal impact. One of the new chairs is Anna Goldenberg, an associate professor of computer science in U of T's Faculty of Arts & Science and the first-ever chair in biomedical informatics and artificial intelligence at the Hospital for Sick Children. She and her colleagues, including U of T's Dr. Peter Laussen, have developed a computer model that uses signals in physiological data, such as a patient's pulse, to detect an oncoming heart attack – giving doctors and nurses vital minutes to intervene and save an infant's life. The early-warning system has been able to predict 70 per cent of heart attacks at least five minutes – and up to 15 minutes – before a patient's heart stops beating. "In machine learning and health care, the key word is prevention," says Goldenberg, whose team is on track to have the system tested in a silent trial in a clinical environment.