“Programming a computer to be clever is harder than programming it to learn to be clever,” Hugo Larochelle, a researcher at Google Brain and adjunct professor at Université de Sherbooke, said during his “Beyond Artificial Intelligence: Deep Learning” presentation at SUS Academia Week on Jan. 31. Deep learning is a subset of Artificial Intelligence (AI)… Keep Reading
The McGill Office for Science and Society hosted the 2018 Trottier Public Science Symposium on Oct. 29 and 30, where academics discussed information technology and its implications for humanity. Human history is punctuated with moments which completely redefined technology, the latest being the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Beginning during World War 2, the revolution saw the… Keep Reading
Imagine an app that can guide the visually-impaired, a program that can analyze the nutritional content of the food on your dinner plate, or software that can detect violent encounters as they’re captured on security cameras. These ideas were all implemented during ImplementAI, a 24-hour hackathon which took place from Sept. 29-30 at the Catallaxy… Keep Reading
In an effort to increase gender diversity in the field of artificial intelligence (AI), the second annual AI For Social Good Lab initiative launched on May 14 in Montreal. The program gave 30 undergraduate women from across Canada the opportunity to use artificial intelligence to address a social issue of their choice. Currently, fewer than… Keep Reading
Today, the fourth industrial revolution is being fuelled by artificial intelligence (AI), which is disrupting and transforming almost every industry. Inevitably, the countries that invest most heavily in their successful domestic AI technology companies will rise in global presence. Canada is running in this race, but is not in first place. “We’re the junior partner,… Keep Reading
On Oct. 11, Facebook Artificial Intelligence Research (FAIR) Director Yann Lecun, in collaboration with McGill’s Integrated Management Symposium Series, gave a talk on how artificial intelligence (AI) impacts the modern workplace at Centre Mont-Royal. Lecun discussed the development of artificial intelligence in the 21st century. Lecun began with a description of deep learning, a procedure… Keep Reading
Starting on Friday, Sept. 22, McGill University hosted Startup Weekend, an entrepreneurship competition where participants pitched, designed, and polished inventive ideas for businesses within a 54-hour time frame. The competition, held in Thomson House, was the first Artificial Intelligence (AI)-themed Startup Weekend in Canada. Alex Smirnov, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer of Dialogue, a virtual… Keep Reading
Researchers in the Douglas Mental Health University Institute’s Translational Neuroimaging Laboratory at McGill have created an artificial intelligence-based algorithm to recognize dementia before its onset—an elusive task, even for neurologists. The algorithm uses statistics to learn what the determining markers of the disease are—a process called machine learning, a branch of artificial intelligence. With a… Keep Reading
While deep in conversation with your childhood best friend, you catch glimpse of a frayed wire and grey hinge protruding from the side of their neck. “I thought you knew,” they calmly remark at your gaze. Suddenly they swing the hinge open to reveal an intricate set of wires and flashing lights hiding behind what… Keep Reading
Facebook announced that it would be basing its first Canadian research laboratory in Montreal at a press conference at McGill’s Faculty Club on Friday Sept. 15. The city is home to the offices of many tech companies—including Google and Ubisoft—and the city’s burgeoning tech industry has received millions in investments from the government. Various stakeholders—including… Keep Reading
