New federal AI strategy emphasizes university research, training and commercialization

The federal government will increase the number of Canada CIFAR AI Chairs from 143 to nearly 200 researchers as part of the new national artificial intelligence strategy entitled AI for All, which was unveiled by Prime Minister Mark Carney in Toronto on Thursday. 

The strategy foresees an important role for universities, not only in research but also in commercialization of AI discoveries and in training students and workers in AI literacy. 

Robert Asselin, CEO of U15 Canada, which represents 15 leading research universities, said the strategy “doubles down on what has made Canada an AI leader in terms of research, talent and expertise.” 

Increasing the number of AI chairs is “a recognition that on innovation, Canada can really be a leader,” said Mr. Asselin, who was consulted by Artificial Intelligence Minister Evan Solomon and his team during the drafting of the strategy.

“Obviously, we are competing against technology giants in the U.S. that are spending a lot of money on AI on a daily basis,” he added. 

CIFAR Chair expansion includes international recruitment 

CIFAR — which stands for the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research — provides long-term funding for AI chairs at Canada’s three AI institutes: the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute (Amii) in Edmonton, Mila in Montreal, and the Vector Institute in Toronto.

CIFAR president and CEO Stephen Toope called Thursday’s announcement “a powerful affirmation that world-class research and talent remain the primary engine of Canada’s technological future.” 

“As a core partner of the Canadian AI Strategy since 2017, CIFAR has helped build the foundation of Canada’s global leadership in AI” and “has played a central role in building and connecting a collaborative AI ecosystem that drives innovation,” Dr. Toope said in a statement. 

Cam Linke, CEO of Amii and a member of Canada’s Advisory Council on Artificial Intelligence, told University Affairs that “the expansion of the chairs program gives universities much needed support to be able to continue to recruit incredible people to Canada, and continues Canada’s reputation as a leader where the best researchers want to be with the best students.” 

Noting that many countries are “courting the same researchers, engineers, and technical experts with faster immigration, higher compensation, advanced compute, and deeper pools of capital,” the AI for All document promises to accelerate entry of highly-skilled AI professionals into Canada, and to ease their path to permanent residency. 

Universities called on to foster AI literacy 

Mr. Linke highlighted the federal strategy’s focus on AI literacy, with the goal of reaching one million entry-level post-secondary students and training more than 3,000 educators with classroom learning kits. 

Last year, Amii received $5 million in support from Google.org to launch AI Workforce Readiness, a national initiative that embeds AI literacy across courses and disciplines, from business to health, at 25 universities and colleges involving 125,000 students. 

However, the AI for All document notes that fewer than one-quarter of Canadians have received formal training in AI, and that public trust in the technology is low, with about half of the population considering it “a threat to humanity.”  

“Canada has a substantial gap in AI training and literacy, and closing it … is the foundation on which everything else depends,” the document states.  

David Hornsby, vice-provost for academic and global learning at Carleton University, said that the federal strategy reinforces the notion that “universities are critical delivery partners for AI literacy” and will play an educational role in helping the federal government reach its goal of having 60 percent of Canadian businesses, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises, adopt AI tools by 2034. 

Commercialization receives $130M boost 

As part of its strategy, the federal government promises to invest $130 million for commercialization programs at Amii, Mila and the Vector Institute. This will include a founders-in-residence program “to cultivate a new generation of AI entrepreneurs.

Canada’s global leadership in AI research must result in “economic benefits” through products and services, and that “requires a commercialization ecosystem built for the speed and cross-sectoral nature of AI,” the AI strategy states. 

“To do so, National AI Institutes must convert more of their scientific breakthroughs into homegrown companies through collaboration with venture capital, industry and Global Innovation Clusters.” 

Mr. Linke said that “overall Canada has a great opportunity for AI leadership because of the investments universities have made in AI research over many decades.” 

Human decision-making missing in strategy 

Carleton University’s Dr. Hornsby said the strategy recognizes “the research dimension, through investing in the CIFAR AI Chairs program, accelerated pathways for attracting global talent and a new AI Missions Program,” which includes a $200-million commitment to use AI to improve health outcomes for Canadians. 

Universities, such as Carleton, “are absolutely ready for it [through] significant capacity in cutting-edge AI research,” said Dr. Hornsby, a professor at the university’s Norman Paterson School of International Affairs. 

However, he also noted what he considered an omission in the strategy. 

“There is foregrounding around safety, trust, ethics of the usage of AI,” said Dr. Hornsby. “But I would have liked to have seen more recognition of the need for human decision-making, the critical thing we heard at Carleton when we engaged our own framework.” 

Carleton launched its AI framework in April following a “campus-wide consultation process,” according to Dr. Hornsby. 

“While AI might help us with productivity or mundane takes, we still need to provide a human lens to make sure that it is actually doing what we want it to do. It can’t just be left to its own devices.” 

Nevertheless, he believes that if universities “can work in a coordinated way as a sector and engage in innovative research at the same time as thinking carefully as a collective around how to do AI literacy training and thinking of the ethical dimensions, I think that we have some potential to be really cutting edge as a nation.”