Dorian Kieken
Co-founder, Business
Fabrice Condominas
Co-founder, Vision
François Chabot
Co-founder, Tech Architecture
Grégory Szriftgiser
Co-founder, Human Interaction Design
AI is poised to help us deal with some of the most pressing challenges we face in our society, including climate change, transportation, education, and our water supply.
The co-founders of AIR (AI Redefined), a company focused on human-centred AI solutions, believe Canada’s tech-savvy population, collaborative research environment, and rich history of digital game development positions the country at the forefront of this AI revolution.
Mediaplanet: Why should Canadians be excited about AI?
Dorian Kieken: Canada is very well positioned on the AI front. It already has a thriving talent pool and its universities are forming new generations of machine learning experts as we speak. AI can help us understand a lot of different things from new perspectives. It can process in limitless dimensions and show us possibilities that even the best experts today couldn’t consider, complementing our own intelligence.
What are the challenges with AI, and how does your approach address them?
François Chabot: Machine learning AI stands on three pillars: computing power, algorithms, and training. Training AI agents is the most critical piece for them to achieve success, yet humans are more or less absent from this process — it currently relies on pure data and mathematical models. Humans are not at the core of current AI training. AIR’s approach is that if AI is to help us solve complex human issues, and do it well, we need more interaction between humans and machines, and to train AI on those interactions.
Why do governments need to take an early interest in AI?
Fabrice Condominas: AI is the most transformative tech area since the advent of the internet. It’s poised to insert itself at all levels of society, including how we access services, knowledge, and how we do business. From provincial to federal levels, AI will be a, if not the, major vector of growth for the country. There’s no shortage of problems for government to solve, and AI will help.
Should we fear that AI will replace humans?
Grégory Szriftgiser: It’s understandable that people have fears about AI. People had fears about the impact of the internet, and while we’re still debating some of its ethical concerns, the internet transformed how we live and do business. It’s the same with AI. However, AI won’t replace humans so much as take over menial tasks and the mundane parts of our jobs, while opening up new opportunities and enabling us to focus more on soft and creative skills. If anything, it can allow us to spend more of our time on what makes us human and what helps us be happier and more fulfilled.
