狐狸视频

Vector Institute points to Toronto as the global hot spot for AI research

U of T researchers core of new independent centre
photo of group of AI researcher
Front, from left: Roger Grosse, Richard Zemel, Brendan Frey, Raquel Urtasun and David Duvenaud. Back, from left: Jordan Jacobs, Ed Clark, 狐狸视频, Sanja Fidler and Tomi Poutanen (photo by Johnny Guatto)

A team of globally renowned researchers at the 狐狸视频 is driving the planning of a new institute staking Toronto鈥檚 and Canada鈥檚 claim as the global leader in AI.

狐狸视频, a  in computer science at U of T and vice-president engineering fellow at Google, will serve as the chief scientific adviser of the newly created  based in downtown Toronto.

鈥淭he 狐狸视频 has long been considered a global leader in artificial intelligence research,鈥 said U of T President Meric Gertler. 鈥淚t鈥檚 wonderful to see that expertise act as an anchor to bring together researchers, government and private sector actors through the Vector Institute, enabling them to aim even higher in leading advancements in this fast-growing, critical field.鈥

As part of the , Vector will share $125 million in federal funding with fellow institutes in Montreal and Edmonton. All three will conduct research and secure talent to cement Canada鈥檚 position as a world leader in AI.

In addition, Vector is expected to receive funding from the Province of Ontario and more than 30 top Canadian and global companies eager to tap this pool of talent to grow their businesses. The institute will also work closely with other Ontario universities with AI talent.

After decades of being on the 鈥渓unatic fringe鈥 pursuing an area of artificial intelligence known as neural networks, Hinton, his colleagues and former students are experiencing an abrupt and transformative reversal in fortune. They are now part of an incredibly in demand 鈥渓unatic core.鈥

Everyone is vying for their talents, from fellow universities to AI startups to the giants of Silicon Valley. Statistics show 100 per cent of graduates from U of T鈥檚 master鈥檚 in applied computing program find employment. Virtually all PhD grads are leaving Canada.

South of the border, U of T alumni and former faculty can also be found leading AI divisions at Google, Apple, OpenAI and Facebook. Here at home, they鈥檙e also creating their own startups like Layer6 AI, WinterLight Labs and , fuelling local demand for the same talent pool.

Hence the need for the Vector Institute.

鈥淚f we don鈥檛 create this now, basically we鈥檙e going to miss the boat in the revolution of AI. It鈥檚 actually critical for this to [have] started yesterday,鈥 says U of T computer science associate professor Raquel Urtasun, the Canada Research Chair in Machine Learning and Computer Vision.

The goal, the researchers say, is to have Vector serve as both beacon and magnet 鈥 to attract and retain talent to fill the needs of local businesses, support AI startups and show Toronto is serious about capitalizing on its reputation as a global leader in deep learning to push the science towards the next made-in-Canada breakthrough.

In particular, Vector funding will help train a huge new contingent of PhD students 鈥 some say the most of any institution anywhere 鈥 to fill booming demand.

Vector鈥檚 formation is a dream come true for the U of T machine-learning group, says U of T Computer Science Professor Richard Zemel, who is also the institute鈥檚 research director.

鈥淚t鈥檚 the right time to capitalize on that [group鈥檚 expertise] and grow,鈥 said Zemel. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of research that goes on here that is a seed for the new wave that鈥檚 going to come in. . . . My strong feeling is that if we hire more people, then we鈥檙e going to be able to grow and lead that new wave of research.鈥

Brendan Frey, a U of T professor in electrical and computer engineering, and founder of AI startup Deep Genomics, agreed.

鈥淚 think in the next 10 to 20 years almost all aspects of Canadian society will be impacted by artificial intelligence from farming to medicine to education,鈥 he said. 鈥淎rtificial intelligence is the best way to interpret data and then make rational, good choices. As the amount of data grows in all areas of society, AI will play a crucial role in making that happen. You can think of AI as a pervasive technology that鈥檚 going to make life better across the board in all aspects of society.鈥

In the area of self-driving vehicles alone, the Vector Institute is to have a huge impact, which is important for the Ontario automotive sector.

鈥淰ector is going to be basically the place where all the experts in this field [perception algorithm/deep learning] are going to be located,鈥 says Urtasun, who is globally in demand for her perception algorithms for self-driving cars.

鈥淲e basically develop the brain of the car where it has to transform what it sees into an explanation of what it is seeing,鈥 she explains. 鈥淏asically, all the technology that is going to come out of Vector will be directly applicable to self-driving cars. It鈥檚 going to provide an incredible talent pool for companies that are going to work in the automotive sector.鈥

The creation of the Vector Institute couldn鈥檛 have come at a more important time. Toronto and Canada are in a way at a tipping point as the world races to lead in this.

鈥淐anada has been very strong in AI historically,鈥 Frey said. 鈥淏ut in the last 10 years . . . AI expertise has started flowing to locations that are more strongly supporting applications of AI to society 鈥 and that has been outside of Canada.

鈥淚t鈥檚 really important now that we regain that strength, that we refocus our excellence in artificial intelligence and in deep learning in particular, and also ensure we can make direct connections to applications that will change society.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 what the Vector Institute is all about 鈥 to make sure there are collaborations between the researchers and industry, whether it鈥檚 startup companies, scale-up companies or big business.鈥

Read about the six degrees of separation from Hinton

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