AltaML captivated a large crowd with an introductory peek into some of the best-in-class artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) work being done in Alberta.
"Alberta is the best place in the world to be in AI," said Cory Janssen, co-founder and co-CEO of AltaML. "We've got domain expertise, engineering and lots of large organizations that generate lots and lots of data. We just need to connect with each other better."
AltaML is helping many organizations use AI/ML to leverage data from many sources to help improve environmental and safety performance, efficiency and cost savings.
"The benefits of AI and ML are found in being able to show the correlation of data to achieve deeper insights than we've ever seen before," said Jil Macdonald, managing director and western North American services lead at AltaML.
That sophisticated data analysis is available as a result of the evolution of AI where subdisciplines or specialties such as machine learning and deep learning are integrating to provide the most robust insights and solutions ever.
With access to natural language processing, computer visioning (automating tasks of human vision), deep learning and other technologies, determining the right approach for an organization or project can be overwhelming. AltaML shared its Idea Canvas Template to assist in matching solutions to challenges, including understanding which data from the mountains available will be most helpful. The decision matrix also considers business and change management processes to help ensure an investment in AI results in desired outcomes in the most efficient, safe, secure, productive ways.
The presentation included examples such as:
- LIDAR imaging in concert with growth rate predictions to improve monitoring and mitigation of remediation areas, forestry and fish habitat
- Predictive modeling using internal and external data sources to improve mediation and management programs for pipelines
- Predictive modeling for enhanced efficiency and planned maintenance for cooling systems for data warehousing which also significantly reduced emissions
Referenced resources
- AltaML Idea Canvas Template
- Read: Prediction Machines: The Simple Economics of Artificial Intelligence book by Ajay Agrawal, Joshua Gans and Avi Goldfarb
- Attend: Andrew Ng, Stanford University course ‘AI for Everyone’ available for free on Coursera
- Read: Dr. Richard Sutton, University of Alberta professor of Reinforcement Learning, and Chief Scientific Advisor, Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute (AMII)
- Apply: Quarterly intake for paid internships at AltaML's Applied AI Lab
- Attend: AI meet-up groups in your area
- Read: ‘The majority of business analytics and AI projects are still failing’ by Yulia Kosarenko
- Visit: CDL-Rockies Creative Destruction Lab
Watch the event video below for details.