Canada
Toronto and the Godfather of AI
The world can learn deep lessons from Ontario ’ s AI investment that has made it an innovation capital
The three major hubs of Montréal , Edmonton and Toronto in Canada have essentially split the AI role into three main components , each with their own fi eld of complex research . Toronto ' s focus has been on Deep Learning and its academic and commercial achievements have propelled it into the front rank of AI innovation . In the past year , the Toronto Region claims to have added more tech jobs to its ecosystem than New York City and San Francisco Bay Area combined . The University of Toronto ranks 10th in the QS World University Rankings list for 2017 for best computer science schools and the city ’ s Vector Institute , an independent , non-profi t research institution dedicated to AI , is excelling in both Deep Learning and Machine Learning with corporate partners including Google , Shopify , Accenture , Thomson Reuters , Uber , Air Canada , and all fi ve major Canadian banks . Under the guidance of chief scientifi c advisor , professor Geoffrey Hinton , the so-called ‘ Godfather of AI ’, the Vector Institute trains and
attracts researchers who want to lead the world in Machine Learning and Deep Learning research . They also have the fl exibility to work on commercial applications with companies or in their own startups . The researchers coming to Vector have contributed to the number of scientists working in the Toronto Region growing by 44 % since 2006 , a rate that is nearly three times the rate of overall employment growth . The Ontario government has also commited to increasing the number of post-secondary STEM graduates by 25 % over the next fi ve years to 50,000 , making the province the top producer of STEM graduates in North America . Recent AI investments in the city include : Uber : The company set up a new research hub in Toronto in 2017 to focus on developing AI for driverless vehicles . The move was Uber ’ s fi rst R & D operation outside of the United States . Thomson Reuters : In 2016 the international media company opened its Toronto Technology
Centre to house its cognitive computing activities . The decision was driven by the region ’ s technology strengths in data visualisation and AI . OpenText : This fl exible AI platform was set up in 2017 and combines open source Machine Learning with advanced analysis to acquire , manage and analyse big data . General Motors . The automotive giant has committed to growing its engineering workforce in the Toronto Region to 1,000 and will focus on autonomous vehicle software . The University of Toronto boasts several entrepreneurship hubs on campus , including the Department of Computer Science Innovation Lab ( DCSIL ) and the Creative Destruction Lab ( CDL ), an AI innovation ‘ hothouse ’ at the Rotman School of Management . JLabs , a part of Johnson & Johnson Innovation , has spearheaded the AI for Drug Discovery QuickFire Challenge , a project highlight rising stars who use AI to advance drug discovery and development in various medical areas .
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