Posted at 8:00 am
Simon Lord Special Collaboration
Last March, a study by Tortoise Media ranked Canada 4th in the world for artificial intelligence (AI), behind China, the United States and the United Kingdom. In particular, the ranking assessed the quantity of research, as well as its quality, as well as other factors such as the overall value of public investment.
What about Quebec? In this ranking, too, the province is ranked 7th in the world, ahead of many countries such as France, the Netherlands and Australia.
PHOTO CHARLES WILLIAM PELLETIER, SPECIAL COLLABORATION
Valérie Pisano, President and CEO of Mila
“How did we get here? It all starts with talent,” explains Valérie Pisano, President and CEO of Mila – Quebec Artificial Intelligence Institute. She notes that when AI and machine learning really took off four or five years ago, Quebec already had some of the best researchers in the world. A reality made possible in particular by public and university investments.
Renowned researchers
Today, machine learning continues to be a thriving research area in Quebec and the metropolitan area. A look at the AI 2000 Most Influential Scholars list, which lists the best researchers in the field, confirms this.
Yoshua Bengio, for example, is recognized there as a leader in machine learning alongside Aaron Courville, a professor at the University of Montreal.
The Mila unites a hundred teachers. Of this group, 30 to 40 have a wide notoriety that gives the ecosystem a strong magnetism.
Valérie Pisano, President and CEO of Mila
Legion of apps
Machine learning is a form of AI that allows a system to “learn” to complete a task, or make it better and better, through data analysis.
Machine learning is often used for translation or recognition of text and images. For example, diagnoses and even treatment suggestions can be generated from X-ray images.
This technique has many other applications, including in the area of recommendations.
“It is the type of algorithm on commercial websites that determines which products and services are proposed to you in order to best meet your needs,” explains Valérie Pisano. Or the kind of algorithm that suggests a street route based on traffic. »
convey knowledge
For example, Alloprof recently worked on a project in collaboration with the Institute for Data Valorization (IVADO), a center for research, training and knowledge transfer in Montreal specializing in Big Data.
The project consisted of developing a recommendation engine that automatically offers explanations to the questions asked by the students.
“From very large companies to smaller organizations like Alloprof that help students in difficulty, we want to help organizations adopt artificial intelligence,” explains Luc Vinet, General Manager of IVADO.
“Because data paired with deep learning algorithms are very useful for decision making. »
A pillar of AI
Founded in 2016, IVADO is a key pillar of AI in Montreal.
“We are a kind of intermediary, we bring the industry in touch with machine learning and operational research,” summarizes Luc Vinet. We bring together all forces, all players in this field to help companies to discover the potential of AI and data. »
Since its inception, IVADO has provided $41 million in research support through fellowships and grants. In total, the institute awarded a total of 522 scholarships, 120 of them between 2021 and 2022.
In view of its technology transfer mission, IVADO launched 114 new collaborative research projects involving 58 non-profit organizations, start-ups and SMEs. A total of 548 such projects have been carried out since 2017.
“We are instigators,” says Luc Vinet. And we will continue to be at the forefront of orchestrating the big players in this space so that together we can all derive maximum benefit from artificial intelligence. »