CUCAI 2019
The best of the inaugural Canadian Undergraduate Conference on Artificial Intelligence…
The first annual Canadian Undergraduate Conference on Artificial Intelligence took place on March 9th, 2019. Backed by QMIND and a strong Queen’s community, the event marked its debut on the national stage with delegations from Queen’s University, McGill University, University of Toronto, Ryerson University, and University of Manitoba. In total, over 200 student delegates, industry leaders, and sponsor representatives came together for the day to discuss the state of Canadian AI.
Speakers
Colum Elliott-Kelly, CSO & GM North America, Filament AI
Colum Elliott-Kelly kicked-off the conference with a discussion on applying AI in industry. He addressed the challenge of shifting preconceived notions of AI technologies toward solutions with quantifiable business impacts. Filament leverages machine learning to help businesses extract better value from their human talent and improve the bottom line, explained Elliott-Kelly. AI must be developed to solve real problems, and is not a universal solution within itself. “[Machine learning] is not magic, its math,” he said.
Mojan Hamed, Data Scientist, Shopify
Mojan Hamed spoke to her experiences in applying data science to commerce. She introduced many of the data science tools Shopify actively employs such as class probability estimation, regression and value estimation, similarity matching and recommendation systems, and causal inference. Participants were able to directly connect these methods with real automation, recommendation, and forecasting examples. Hamed concluded the presentation with a full walk-through of a recent project, an analysis of Marketing Channel Attribution.
Stuart Lombard, Founder & CEO, ecobee
Stuart Lombard brought forward the controversial topic, “generation Z is doomed.” To Lombard, this claim highlights the urgency of addressing climate change, which he believes to be the enemy of coming generations. He spoke to the ways in which AI can be leveraged to tackle the problem, citing his smart home company, ecobee, as a pioneer in a coming global movement. Closing the discussion, he left the audience with the thought:
“Artificial Intelligence can be used for either good or bad, and that is why I am incredibly hopeful.”
Panel: AI Transforming Industry
Alfred Whitehead, SVP Data Science, Klick Inc.
Richard Downe, Director of Data Science, Loblaw Digital
Dean Rootenberg, Senior Manager — Enterprise Advanced Analytics, TD Bank
The panelists, representing finance, health care, and retail, addressed the status of AI within their respective industries. They discussed the complex interplay between AI adoption and disruption. Of particular focus was the progression of AI in automation and its employment consequences. Whitehead summarized the panel’s stance that AI is not going to be taking jobs but rather enhancing them, just like “power tools to the carpenter.”
Workshops
Element AI: led by Sepephr Taghavi, Strategist
Sepehr Taghavi from Element AI, an innovative company converting collaborative research into industry-specific products, held a workshop titled ‘The Ideation of AI’. The workshop aimed at realizing the business potential of the AI industry by assessing the tangible value of AI creations. Participants tried their hand at evaluating AI ideas on three main criteria: feasibility, desirability, and value.
Distributed Compute Labs: led by Dan Desjardins, CEO
Distribute Compute Labs are a not-for-profit group seeking to advance machine learning by distributing computational workloads. Their goal is to create a platform that leaves the power of enterprise-level computing at the fingertips of all with an interest in advancing AI technologies. Workshop participants connected their cell phone CPUs, creating (before their eyes) an ecosystem that could process complex demonstrations.
Industry Showcase
The showcase brought together data science professionals with experience across many domains. Delegates used this opportunity to learn about the skills and experiences that are valued in today’s competitive workplace. Students gained a glimpse into the inner workings of the various data science teams, giving them exposure to a wide variety of real-world projects and initiatives.
Student Showcase
Bringing Projects to Life
The student showcase saw demonstrations from multiple undergraduate machine learning groups. The teams displayed their amassed knowledge (in the form of recent projects) for the benefit of industry representatives and other delegates. Participants shared successes and failures, problem solving strategies, and new ideas in this showcase of Undergraduate ability.
Closing Thoughts
Thank you to our sponsors, Klick Inc., TD Bank, Dunin-Deshpande Queen’s Innovation Centre, Smith’s Masters of Management in Artificial Intelligence, Queen’s Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science, Distributed Compute Labs, and The Co-operators. Your generous support made this event possible.
We look forward to CUCAI 2020, which is projected to increase in program length, delegate attendance, national participation, and industry representation. To learn more about partnership opportunities please contact Hatem Dawaghreh, Managing Director of Operations.
