As Applied Intelligence's global outreach penetrates the multi-disciplinary spectrum, Canada’s adoption of socially focused AI initiatives has also increased. Canada ranks 5th in the publication of social and welfare related AI content and has published over 500 research papers on the subject since 2017.
With over 84,000 open data sets, Canada ranked first among 30 countries in OpenData’s barometer assessment in 2018. This large amount of crime, health and census datasets can be used by researchers and companies to develop diverse social solutions. Our country has seen important progress in the social applications of AI in numerous settings.
CIFAR, AMII, Mila and the Vector Institute prioritize the use of AI for positive social impact across several common causes, including health and the environment. Over the years, Canada has demonstrated its commitment to social issues by actively promoting AI in these key sectors.
Health and Welfare – Canada is a leader in AI health research and its development of AI applications is rapidly growing. In 2019, CIFAR funded 14 research projects in the fight against COVID-19. There are great examples of AI use cases in healthcare in Canada.
University Health network researchers developed a radiotherapy planning system that generates high quality treatment plans faster, and at lower costs than current manual or automated methods. In Intensive Care Units, a predict risk model is used to make medical assessments and predict when a patient should be transferred to the ICU. Although the implementation of AI in healthcare is growing, Canada needs to increase applications in this sector quickly and strategically or risk losing its advantage.
Education – AI for society is now part of the curriculum at many Canadian computer science programs. CIFAR and the Osmo foundation also run the AI4Good summer lab, a machine learning bootcamp where participants develop AI prototypes for social good. The program aims to inspire a next generation of diverse technical leaders to develop AI as a force for social good.