The Ask AI news roundup highlights the recent innovations, investments, and breakthroughs from Canada's artificial intelligence sector.
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Editor's picks
đ§ Philippe Dufresne, Canada's Privacy Commissioner, has launched an investigation into ChatGPT, the explosively popular artificial intelligence-powered chatbot. Full story
â According to a new report by KPMG, only 33% of Canadian businesses are exploring ChatGPT for day-to-day operations, compared to 65% of US companies. Full story
đ¸ Eleven universities will be sharing nearly $1.4 billion in funding in Canada's largest-ever Federal university grant awarded for AI and robotics. Full story
đś Copyright pickle: an AI-generated song purporting to be Drake and The Weeknd racked up 600,000 streams on Spotify before a music labels had it pulled. Full story
đš Ărjan Sandred of the University of Manitoba is working with Manitoba Arts Council and pianist Megumi Masaki to develop a human-machine duet. Full story
Breakthroughs & Kudos
đ BC-based Wellbeing Digital Sciences and Ontario-based KGK Science have started first-of-its-kind clinical trial using ML to assess psilocybin to treat Fragile X syndrome. Full story
đť Royal Bank of Canada's 'NOMI Forecast' awarded 'Best Use of AI for Customer Experience' at Digital Banker Digital CX Awards for providing 7 day view into cashflow. Full story
đŹ The Canada First Research Fund has awarded U of T's Acceleration Consortium $199M to develop 'self-driving labs' to automate chemical and materials research. Full story
Governance, Ethics, & Society
đ Dr. Peter Lewis and Dr. Theresa Stotesbury at OTU have been awarded $250K to apply AI to crime scene bloodstain analyses to reduce wrongful convictions. Full story
đ˛ A new report by Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) and Global Risk Institute (GRI) highlights the risks of using AI in financial services. Full story
đ¤ A new startup is using AI to catch bartenders who steal drinks? Kitchener startup Bevcounter is developing technology to combat theft in the pub industry. Full story
đ Concordiaâs Applied AI Institute is offering a 3 week interdisciplinary Summer Institute for graduate students to explore AIâs social impacts. Full story
Canada artificial intelligence news in healthcare
đProfessor Angela Roberts of the Faculty of Health Sciences Communications at Western University is leading the first-ever study of Canadian âSuperAgersâ. Full story
đ The Hopsital for Sick Children in Toronto is using AI to help see more patients by ordering tests upon arrival rather than waiting for an initial assessment. Full story
đ UBC Faculty of Medicine researchers have received $3M from NSERC to train biomedical engineers with expertise across biology, biotechnology, and AI. Full story
𩺠Rahul Krishnan, an assistant professor at the University of Toronto, has received $85K from Amazon to study consequences of implementing AI in healthcare. Full story
Business
đ¨ Toronto's Private AI has launched 'PrivateGPT' a no-code plugin that automatically redacts sensitive info and PII from user prompts of Generative AI platforms like ChatGPT. Full story
𧞠KPMG Canada and Ottawa's MindBridge have formed a strategic alliance to bring advanced AI into KPMG's global organization and digital audits around the world. Full story
đź Ontario-based Schneider Electric is using its AI-driven Open Talent Market (OTM) platform to matching workers with projects and learning opportunities that interest them. Full story
Education
đââď¸ The use of ChatGPT by students in elementary and high school is ringing alarm bells for some Canadian teachers, while others have embraced the technology. Full story
đą Faced with evolving AI, some teachers in Quebec's schools are changing the way they teach or using bots of their own to stay ahead of the cat-and-mouse game of plagiarism. Full story
đ° A new $124.5M federal grant will support research, teaching, and knowledge transfer in AI via R3AI IVADO, a consortium of multiple Qubec-based universities. Full story
Agriculture & Food Security
đą Manitoba's EMILI has partnered with University of Winnipeg to use AI to identify plant and weed varieties in order to optimize seed and spray activities. Full story
đ McGill University and UniversitĂŠ du QuĂŠbec Ă MontrĂŠal have invested $5M in an 'Animal Welfare and AI' office to link animal welfare and dairy farm profitability. Full story
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