At a rapid pace, the world is seeing more and more technology emerge that allows machines to simulate human intelligence. That will be the subject of the Upper Bound AI Conference taking place in downtown Edmonton this week.
The artificial intelligence symposium is being held for the fourth time and is put on by the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute (Amii). The event began Tuesday and runs until Friday at the Edmonton Convention Centre.
The conference features speakers like Sabrina Geremia, the vice-president and country manager for Google in Canada, John Carmack, the founder and CEO of Keen Technologies, Turing laureate Richard S. Sutton, who is also the chief scientific adviser for Amii, and Elissa Strome, the executive director of the Canadian Institute of Advanced Research.
A number of government officials will also be in attendance.
“Artificial intelligence is rapidly becoming the most defining technology in our time with its rapid growth and adoption demonstrating transformative power across all aspects of our lives,” Cam Linke, the CEO of Amii, said in a news release.
“We are immensely proud that Upper Bound has become the AI conference where researchers, policymakers, founders, and funders converge to forge a bright future for AI.”
Artificial Intelligence conference showcasing breakthrough insights and discoveries
Amii is a non-profit institute based in Alberta that supports AI research and works to help scientific advancements be adopted by industries.
The conference is happening the same week that high-ranking officials from G7 countries gather in Alberta for meetings where AI will be among the topics discussed. Those meetings are being held in the mountain town of Banff and serve as a precursor to next month’s G7 Leaders’ Summit in Kananaskis, Alta.
Earlier this month, Canada’s federal government revealed the country will be getting its first-ever AI ministry and that former journalist Evan Solomon would be taking on that portfolio.
Solomon was among the political candidates who won a seat for the Liberals in the House of Commons in last month’s federal election.
When Solomon was named the minister of AI, Michael Geist, Canada research chair in internet and e-commerce law at the University of Ottawa, said he believes the new ministry is a “good signal about prioritizing AI and digital innovation.”
Geist added that while there will be calls for the government to move quickly on regulation, “there has been a notable shift globally in recent months toward a more innovation-focused approach.”
–with files from The Canadian Press’ Anja Karadeglija
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