Jared Wong's Blog

Being a huge fan of the concept of Artificial Intelligent, I was surprised to hear of a Canadian born institute starting up in this area of interest. It is called the Vector AI institute and it is set to launch in 2018. The Vector AI institute has received a lot of prior funding “from more than 30 companies” (Sean Silcoff, 2017, p.2) and soon Garth Gibson will be at their helm as CEO.

Photo by: Matthew Plexman https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/international-business/new-vector-ai-institute-ceo-garth-gibson-facing-tough-decisions/article36393422/?arc404=true?ord=1%20

Reading this article provided by “The Globe and Mail”, I really started to see the value of proper teamwork. To my surprise, the CEO’s only quote throughout the article was about trying to get all these different groups to work together. From my past group experiences, it was hard to grasp how important this skill was until I noticed that it was the only nail holding this entire enterprise together.

According to the article, the Vector AI institute’s “key to success will be a clear focus and ruthless prioritization” (Sean Silcoff, 2017, p. 9) which will be carried out by the brand-new CEO. Since the project has attracted the attention of many “foreign technology giants,” (Sean Silcoff, 2017, p. 7) it is crucial that Dr. Gibson is able to bring all the minds together. Dr. Gibson is currently facing the dilemma of completely “supporting the academics in choosing research areas” (Sean Silcoff, 2017, p. 8) or showing respect to their investors. There is an inherit fear in the article that supporting these investors will cause the employees to choose a different area to work. Depending on the ethics that Dr. Gibson chooses to follow, he could either appeal to the face of Canada or make real advances towards the success of AIs in our everyday lives.

It is astonishing to see how many decisions and factors are needed to run an enterprise. Every little decision that Dr. Gibson chooses to make must be calculated with pros and cons weighted at each level. Not only will he have to pursue all the good opportunities to find advancements in AI technology, but he will also have to choose “which good opportunities not to pursue.” (Sean Silcoff, 2017, p. 9)

Overall, I think that giving the CEO job to Garth Gibson is and will be a good idea for the advancement of AIs in Canada. The article portrays Dr. Gibson in a good light in terms of understanding the obstacles that he will need overcome to find success in this area. He also seems to understand the core issue that will help all the groups synergy to find a solution together. With his immense experience, I believe that he will be a great step forward for Canada’s progression into AI technology.

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References:

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/international-business/new-vector-ai-institute-ceo-garth-gibson-facing-tough-decisions/article36393422/?arc404=true?ord=1

It is probably not unknown to some of you the stress and anxiety that is felt when a personal and precious baggage of yours is lost. I myself know the agonizing pain of losing luggage as you count and recount exactly what you lost. Luckily for the unlucky victims of poor airport handling, a solution has slowly been put in place. The “International Air Transport Association’s Resolution 753” (G.G. ,2017, p.2) is the answer to the wails of those unfortunate travelers.

Image From: https://trackimo.com/how-long-does-it-take-to-find-lost-luggage/

As stated in a recent “The Economist” article, these issues of lost luggage “cost the airline industry $2.1 billion a year and cause untold stress and inconvenience to passengers. (G.G ,2017, p.1) As a consumer, I am overjoyed at the direction the airline is taking to resolve such an issue. The integrity shown in this decision is a prime example of this association having smart business practices in helping themselves and their consumers. In addition of not losing $2.1 billion, the direction of Resolution 753 seems to be a step towards the peoples’ sake. An example of this in practice was first seen at Qatar Airlines where the airline had “gone the extra mile by enabling its passengers to track their luggage themselves through an app.” (G.G. ,2017, p.5) Creating such a complicated system to ease passengers’ uncertainty proves that Qatar Airlines shows some duty towards their consumers. It could be argued that they are doing this just to save themselves money which I would partially agree with, however that being said, there are cheaper ways of achieving that goal. Letting passengers track their bags is an additional feature that benefits the passengers more than the airlines themselves. Furthermore, the “Resolution 753” system implements a “mandatory tracking system at four stages of a baggage’s journey” (G.G. ,2017, p.2) that almost guarantees the safe arrival of ones’ personal belongings.

Overall, I think that the approach taken by the airlines has a strong grip in the integrity of business ethics. “Resolution 753” is a wonderful countermeasure to the ongoing problem of passengers losing baggage. Along with helping themselves, these airlines are also helping passengers deal with one less worry during air travel by supporting their customers emotionally during a time of relaxation or pleasure of a vacation.

Word Count: 372

References:

https://www.economist.com/blogs/gulliver/2017/08/emotional-baggage

https://trackimo.com/how-long-does-it-take-to-find-lost-luggage/

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