Startups and AI

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Opportunities

AI is an emergent field that will be the next great leap forward in technological advancement. It has buzz, potential to disrupt established industries, and seemingly limitless possibilities. Below are highlights of some of the opportunities.

Canada is a Leader in AI

Canada’s excellent education system provides the country with a leading edge in the global artificial intelligence market. The country has many advantages including immigration policies that allow for the import global experts. As you view the multimedia below consider the challenges being identified and urgency in addressing them. Even if you do not start an AI venture your role as an educator is important in maintaining Canadian competitiveness.

Read the following articles:

Local Support for Commercializing AI

One recurring theme is that Canada is a small country and does not have the investment capital that other larger countries have access to. A common refrain is that Canada has the know-how but it needs to be commercialized. NextAI is a nonprofit innovation hub for AI ventures in Canada that is trying to tackle this problem. They offer venture teams education, mentorship, and capital. You can learn more about them in the interview below.

Open-Source AI

APIs and Tools

The big tech-giants of today offer open-source tools for you to utilize AI in your startup. This has made it possible for small startups to utilize cutting-edge technology. Facebook, Google, Microsoft, IBM, and others have tools for startups to adopt AI.  In fact many of these companies offer free training resources. Google AI has an education page, list of tools, and competitions to fund social enterprises that use their AI technology.

Some suggested optional readings are included below for those of you interested:

Open Data

There is a movement to make data public. This means that there are massive sets of data available for AI-based startups to put to use. The usual tech giants have made data sets available. More interestingly however, are the many public institutions and governments that are sharing their data with the public. Below is a brief description of the City of Edmonton’s Open Data initiative.

AI Can Make Your Startup More Competitive

Even if your startup does not directly offer an AI product or service the technology will still be an important tool for making your business successful. The website Startup Nation asserts that early adoption of AI will give your startup the competitive edge. Businesses that fail to adapt may not stay competitive in the long term. In the article 5 Ways Entrepreneurs Can Leverage Artificial Intelligence they recommend the following ways AI can help your business today:

  • Marketing
  • Complement human workers
  • Customer analysis
  • Business process efficiency
  • AI tools allow you to outsource work

Challenges

Despite all of the promise of this technology there are challenges in this industry that new businesses need to be aware of. Some of these challenges are current limitations of the technology while other challenges relate to societal concerns.

Stiff International Competition

Canada may be in a good position currently but the there is intense competition globally. Please read the following article to learn more about AI in the global context:

Bias in AI

There are hopes and dreams that AI can improve the world we live in. It can help us make better and fairer decisions in government, business, and our everyday lives. The reality however is that there is a very real danger that the bias and discrimination found in society will be baked into the algorithms used in AI.

Read the following article:

Fear of AI

Despite the promise of this amazing technological advancement many people feel uneasy about the future of AI. For years people have been warned that robots will take their jobs. If you’re worried about your long term prospects you may be interested in the website Will Robots Take My Job?

Elon Musk, the influential executive of Tesla and Space X, has warned that AI poses an existential threat to humanity. Recently deceased physicist Stephen Hawing warned

“Unless we learn how to prepare for, and avoid, the potential risks, AI could be the worst event in the history of our civilization. It brings dangers, like powerful autonomous weapons, or new ways for the few to oppress the many. It could bring great disruption to our economy.” – Stephen Hawking

Movies like Ex-Machina, 2001: A space Odyssey, and Avengers: Age of Ultron only add to this public unease. A project at MIT appropriately titled the “Nightmare Machine” has used learned what humans find scary to generate horror imagery. Once you put aside the novelty of the Nightmare Machine it serves as a good analogy for the anxiety the public feels regarding AI.

Anna Johansson in the article “AI will only succeed when people learn to trust it” recommends actions to address the public’s fear of AI:

  • Through regular positive presence in everyday life teach people AI won’t kill them
  • Protect user data and take privacy seriously
  • Be transparent about the technology and how it works

Focus Questions:

  1. The resources above talk about artificial intelligence across all industries in Canada. How is this information relevant to the education market? Is there anything missing from the education market perspective?
  2. If you never start an AI venture why does it still matter to you as an educator?
  3. Explore the NextAI website. What are they looking for? How could they help an AI education venture find success?
  4. What are some solutions to the challenges outlined? How can you make these challenges a strength of your venture?