Some of the most compelling research problems involve highly complex systems (like roadways at rush hour), loads of data (think infinitely repeating astrophysical phenomena) and the need to discern a pattern in interminable iterations (to pinpoint an effective drug from millions of chemical compounds, for example).
Artificial intelligence, with its ability to analyze and “understand” information at superhuman speed, gives researchers an extraordinarily powerful tool for discovery — propelling their work forward faster than could otherwise be imagined, like rocket-fuel for research.
But to tap into those capabilities, researchers need high-powered computer equipment, like servers and graphics processing units. That’s where the CFI comes in. In a 10-year period from 2012 to 2022, close to 10 percent of all CFI investments went to projects that involve AI.
Researchers in Canada who are today using AI to their advantage stand on the shoulders of the AI giants whose foundational CFI-funded research projects helped place Canada at the AI forefront.
According to a 2023 report from the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR), Canada has ranked first among G7 nations in number of AI-related papers per capita every year since 2019 and is home to 10 percent of the world’s most elite AI researchers; our cohort of AI talent has grown by an average of 38 percent since 2018.
The country’s dominance in AI pays off economically too. According to the CIFAR report, Canada’s three national AI institutes — the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute (Amii) in Edmonton, Alta., Mila — Quebec Artificial Intelligence Institute in Montréal, Que., and the Vector Institute in Toronto, Ont. — had close to 300 active partnerships with industry in 2023. Canada has experienced a boom in AI-related start-ups since 2017; in 2022, $8.6 billion in venture capital funding went to Canadian AI companies, which was 30 percent of all Canadian venture capital that year.
The age of artificial intelligence brings profound change in how we process information to understand our world and find new insight, which is at the heart of why we do research and how we innovate. Read the stories in this collection for examples of how researchers in Canada have embraced this new era.
