OTTAWA – Fifteen researchers, academics and business executives have been named to Canada’s new Advisory Council on Artificial Intelligence to help guide the federal government on “how best to build on Canada’s AI strengths, identify opportunities to create economic growth that benefits all Canadians and ensure that AI advancements reflect Canadian values.”
ISED Minister Navdeep Bains announced the creation of the Council late Tuesday from Paris where he is attending the G7 meeting of Digital Ministers.
Specifically, the Council will establish a working group on commercializing value from Canadian-owned AI and data analytics, building on work started by the Digital Industries Economic Strategy Table. It will also provide advice on how best to advance the goals laid out in the Canada-France Statement on Artificial Intelligence, plus support Canada’s participation in international engagements like the G7, the G20, the OECD and the World Economic Forum.
The advisory council will be co-chaired by the Royal Bank of Canada’s chief science officer Foteini Agrafioti, and Yoshua Bengio, scientific director of the Montreal Institute for Learning Algorithms.
The other council members include:
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Pierre Boivin, president and CEO, Claridge
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Natalie Cartwright, co-founder and chief operating officer, Finn AI
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Marc-Antoine Dilhac, Canada Research Chair in public ethics and political theory, Université de Montréal
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Eli Fathi, co-founder and CEO, MindBridge Analytics Inc.
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Geoffrey Hinton, chief scientific advisor, Vector Institute for Artificial Intelligence
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Ian Kerr, Canada Research Chair in ethics, law and technology, University of Ottawa
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Jordan Kyriakidis, co-founder and CEO, QRA Corp
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AJung Moon, director, Open Roboethics Institute
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Mona Nemer, Canada’s chief science advisor
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Teresa Scassa, Canada Research Chair in information law and policy, University of Ottawa
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Elissa Strome, executive director of the Pan-Canadian AI Strategy, CIFAR
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Richard Sutton, chief science advisor, Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute
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Geneviève Tanguay, vice president of emerging technologies, National Research Council Canada
The Government of Canada’s support for the Advisory Council on Artificial Intelligence will be led by ISED in collaboration with Global Affairs Canada, the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat and the Privy Council Office, in addition to other federal departments and partners.
“Artificial intelligence is more than just a new product or service. It has the potential to help us solve some of the most difficult challenges we face, create jobs and growth across all industries, and improve the lives of all Canadians,” said Minister Bains in the announcement. “The advisory council will help us capitalize on Canada’s leadership in AI in ways that upholds Canadian values of inclusiveness and diversity so that all Canadians can participate in and benefit from the digital economy.”
Canada is home to over 800 AI companies, and the number of Canadian AI start-ups is growing by approximately 28% year over year. In 2018, $548 million in venture capital was invested in Canadian AI companies, an increase of approximately 50% from 2017.
