加拿大猛砸钱只为保住人工智能领域的领导地位
威廉·法尔肯
CIFAR（ Canadian Institute For Advanced Research 加拿大高级研究所）人工智能主席WILLIAM FALCON 任命了29名CIFAR人工智能方面的研究人员
深度学习成为了当今推动人工智能进步的核心技术，可以追溯到多伦多大学和蒙特利尔大学的研究实验室。由Geoffrey Hinton、Yoshua Bengio和Yann Lecun（现在在纽约大学）的研究成果，形成了今天主要的深度学习方法的基础。
加拿大现在拥有世界上最大的人工智能生态系统。谷歌（Google）、脸谱（Facebook）和优步（Uber）等大公司都建立了核心研究实验室，与加拿大各地的大学合作。加拿大政府通过加拿大高级研究所（CIFAR）资助各种努力，以维护加拿大在人工智能领域的领先地位。作为耗资1.25亿美元的泛加拿大人工智能战略的一个重要支柱，CIFAR最近任命了29名顶尖的人工智能研究人员加入AI Chairs计划。通过这个项目，加拿大希望能够吸引并留住50多位领先的人工智能研究人员，这些实验室分别是： Amii（埃德蒙顿）、Mila（蒙特利尔）和 Vector Institute（多伦多）。
泛加拿大人工智能战略
加拿大的人工智能战略有四个目标：
1、增加加拿大杰出的人工智能研究人员和优秀毕业生的数量。
2、在位于埃德蒙顿、蒙特利尔和多伦多的加拿大三大人工智能中心建立互联科学研发中心。
3、在人工智能发展的经济、伦理、政策和法律影响方面培养全球思维领袖。
4、支持全国人工智能研究团体。
道德领导力
随着深度学习技术的成熟，全球研究界已经开始发现人们在不知不觉中，对隐私、自动武器、政治系统操纵和安全等方面对人工智能技术进行滥用。例如将人工智能武器化，针对中国人工智能技术发展进行监控等，加拿大的研究人员已经牵头制定伦理框架来规范人工智能的应用。通过《负责任发展人工智能的蒙特利尔宣言》等倡议，加拿大“旨在引起公众的辩论，并提出一个渐进和包容性的人工智能发展方向。”
研究领导力
除了上述遍布加拿大的研究实验室，CIFAR还投资1.35亿美元在多伦多成立了病媒研究所。矢量研究所汇集了“全球机器学习和深度学习领域的顶尖人才，在研究、数据和现实世界问题上展开合作。”
创新领导力
加拿大也有超过200家人工智能初创公司。NextAI（加拿大人工智能版Y-Combinator）等项目通过接触计算机视觉、自然语言处理和强化学习等领域的世界顶尖研究人员，为新兴企业家提供支持。
包容中的领导力
虽然美国等国继续关闭边境，拒绝向其他国家的顶尖研究人员发放签证，但加拿大已做出重大努力，使人工智能更具包容性。MILA的一项计划旨在让来自发展中国家的有前途的研究生实习3-6个月，与人工智能领域的一些顶尖研究人员合作。
原文及来源
CIFAR - This Is How Canada Funds Its AI Leadership
William Falcon
CIFAR named 29 researchers to the first cohort of Canada CIFAR Artificial Intelligence Chairs WILLIAM FALCON
Deep learning, the core technique driving AI advancements today, can trace its roots to research labs at the University of Toronto and the University of Montreal. Research developed by Geoffrey Hinton, Yoshua Bengio, and Yann Lecun (now at NYU), form the foundation of major deep learning approaches today.
Canada now hosts the largest AI ecosystem in the world. Major companies such as Google, Facebook, and Uber have set up core research labs which collaborate with various universities across Canada. The Canadian government through the Canadian Institute For Advanced Research (CIFAR), funds various efforts to assert Canada's lead in AI. As an important pillar of the $125 Million Pan-Canadian Artificial Intelligence Strategy, CIFAR recently named 29 top AI researchers to the AI Chairs program. Through this program, Canada hopes to attract and retain more than 50 leading AI researchers across AI labs in Amii (Edmonton), Mila (Montreal) and the Vector Institute (Toronto).
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
Canada's AI strategy has four goals:
1. Increase the number of outstanding artificial intelligence researchers and skilled graduates in Canada.
2. Establish interconnected nodes of scientific excellence in Canada’s three major centers for artificial intelligence in Edmonton, Montreal, and Toronto.
3. Develop global thought leadership on the economic, ethical, policy and legal implications of advances in artificial intelligence.
4. Support a national research community on artificial intelligence.
Leadership in Ethics
As deep learning techniques have matured, the global research community has begun to identify potential misuses in privacy, automated weapons, political system manipulation, and security. Examples such as weaponizing AI and China's AI-driven surveillance, Canada's researchers have led efforts to develop ethical frameworks to regulate applications of AI. Through initiatives such as The Montreal Declaration for a Responsible Development of Artificial Intelligence, Canada "aims to generate public debate and to propose a progressive and inclusive orientation of AI development."
Leadership In Research
In addition to the aforementioned research labs across Canada, CIFAR invested $135mm to fund the creation of the Vector Institute in Toronto. The Vector Institute brings together the "world’s top minds in machine learning and deep learning to collaborate on research, data and real-world problems."
Leadership In Innovation
Canada is also home to over 200 AI startups. Programs such as NextAI, the Canadian AI-version of Y-Combinator, support burgeoning entrepreneurs through access to the world's top researchers across computer vision, natural language processing, and reinforcement learning.
Leadership In Inclusion
While countries like the US continue to close borders and deny visas to top researchers from other countries, Canada has made significant efforts to make AI more inclusive. An initiative at MILA aims to bring promising research students from developing countries for 3-6 month internships to work with some of the top researchers in AI.
沙发，很寂寞~
