June 17th, 2021

EDI Building Layout Design

This talk will overview the results of a recent research project into how equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) applies to building layout design. As part of this project, we undertook an extensive literature review and conducted semi-structured interviews with subject matter experts. We have synthesized our results in terms of EDI building layout design as it intersects with the ability to work, accessibility, health and wellbeing, family and culture support, and privacy and safety. We draw on quotes from our subject matter experts, and prior research in the areas of psychology, architecture design, and management. Our focus for this research project was the recent refurbishment to the Dent Pharm building, but our takeaways should be relevant to a variety of office spaces.

Presenters: Matthew Guzdial, co-authored with Reyhaneh Ababzadeh and Salma Ibrahim
When: June 28th, 2-3pm
More info here

Energy Hackathon 2021
Towards Future Interconnected Electric Systems

AI4society is helping on the development of The Energy Hackathon, the first hackathon organized as part of the APIC-NSERC Alliance project titled 'Towards Future Interconnected Electric Systems’. The main themes of this hackathon are listed below, although participants are free to work on any challenges that they are interested in.

Theme 1 System Modeling and Artificial Intelligence for Power Systems
Theme 2 Advanced Power Electronics for the Smart Grid
Theme 3 Grid Integration of Renewable and Distributed Energy
Theme 4 Safety and Security for the Smart Grid

We encourage students from all faculties and all levels to participate in this hackathon. Participants do not need to know programming or be part of the Electrical and Computer engineering department to participate as we will have a wide variety of challenges available. Participants will also be encouraged to brainstorm their own ideas and form teams on day one.

When: June 25-27
Find the full information here
Register here

natHACKS

NeurAlbertaTech is the premier neurotechnology organization at the University of Alberta. We are focused on promoting interdisciplinary research and innovation in the neurotech space; hosting special events and facilitating project teams in international neurotech competitions. From July 30 to August 2, 2021 we will be hosting natHACKS, NeurAlbertaTech’s inaugural brain-computer interface hackathon for students (Undergraduates, Masters, and PhD students are all encouraged to join) and professionals interested in neurotechnology or related spaces. All of our workshops are accessible with minimal to no prior knowledge.

The skills and intuition gained from attending natHACKS as well as the leadup educational sprint are readily applicable to all data analytics, software development, wearables, project development, and much more! Learn more and RSVP for this event!

AI4Society
News

AI4Society Dialogs

Between January 11th and May 24th, 2021 we released the 10 episodes of Season One of our AI4Society Dialogues podcasts. On it, we hosted diverse talks with leading researchers across the disciplines at the University of Alberta, a global leader in artificial intelligence research. The podcast explores how researchers are constructing and using AI in the course of their work and examines opportunities, challenges and concerns as AI becomes an increasingly prevalent aspect of our world.

First season episodes:
Chapter 1: Dr. Jonathan Schaeffer (Computing Science). Building an AI research powerhouse at the University of Alberta.
Chapter 2: Dr. Michael Bowling (Faculty of Science, Computing Science). Game changing AI research.
Chapter 3: Dr. Cathy Adams (Faculty of Education, Secondary Education). Digital technology: the next killer app for education.
Chapter 4: Dr. Francois Bolduc (Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry, Pediatrics). Genetics, chatbots and the future of medicine.
Chapter 5: Dr. Michael Frishkopf (Faculty of Arts - Music). Advancing ethnomusicology with AI.
Chapter 6: Dr. Nidhi Hegde (Faculty of Science, Computing Science). Nidhi Hegde: Privacy, Ethics and AI.
Chapter 7: Dr. Noah Castelo (Business, Marketing, Business Economics, Law).
Relating to Robots.
Chapter 8: Dr. Jennifer Raso (Faculty of Law). Encoding the law: technology’s impact on institutional decision making
Chapter 9: Dr. Deb Verhoeven (Faculty of Arts, Womens & Gender Studies). Networked Data: Gender, Power and Relationships
Chapter 10: Dr. Rich Sutton (Faculty of Science, Computing Science). Reinforcement learning and the future of AI

Listen to all episodes on these platforms!

AI4Society Dialogues was a co-production between AI4Society, a signature research area at the University of Alberta and the Kule Institute for Advanced Research (KIAS), an endowed institute at the University of Alberta that supports research in the social sciences, humanities and fine arts.

We want to thank the team that worked very hard on this season:

Host: Katrina Ingram, Founder and CEO, Ethically Aligned AI
Technical Producer: Corey Stroeder
Special thanks to Dr. Scott Smallwood and the Sound Studies Institute at the University of Alberta for providing recording space.
Theme music: “Seeing the Future” by Dexter Britain

We also thanks our friends from the UofA Student Journalist Society for their insightful note on The Gateway online newspaper.

Looking for more podcasts? visit the UofA Podcast directory!

Anual Report

Interested in our activities of our first year? check our annual report by clicking on the image above. We thank all our members, students, and associates for the hard work and support, this is a shared success!

Who

Any UofAlberta community member (faculty, researcher, or student) interested in any and all aspects of Artificial Intelligence!

Why

To stay informed about AI-related funding opportunities and events (research grants, internships, competitions, ...)
To access AI4Society support for research and teaching initiatives
To profile your research and to collaborate with other community members, through our Forum.

How

Send an email with a brief description of your affiliation, interests, and activities related to artificial intelligence to ai4s@ualberta.ca.

Opportunities

Calls for Papers

Ethics in the Age of Smart Systems: Special Issue of IRIE

In collaborative partnership, the Weizenbaum Institute for the Networked Society in Berlin, the AI4Society Signature Area at the University of Alberta, and the Center for Digital Ethics and Policy at Loyola University Chicago call for papers for a collection with the title Ethics in the Age of Smart Systems - Special Issue of IRIE. This publication builds on the 10th Annual International Symposium of the Center for Digital Ethics and Policy. This Symposium was on the topic of Ethics in the Age of Smart Systems and was held on April 19th, 20th, and 21st. This Symposium brought together researchers from Canada, the USA, Germany and beyond working in the interdisciplinary area of AI, ethics and policy. It built upon a series of Ethics Dialogues that took place between February and March 2021.

CFP deadline for abstract: June 30th
More information here

Call for Expressions of Interest: Synthetic Data for AI for Health

CIFAR and IVADO are seeking researchers working on or interested in working on synthetic data for health research to gauge interest in a fall 2021 workshop. Please tell us a bit about your work by sending a paragraph to ai@cifar.ca.

Research Internships

Digital Health and Discovery Platform - Mitacs
Call for Proposals
DHDP Catalyst Program

A national mobilization and skill development program to engage key stakeholders, foster collaboration, share learnings and trigger new projects.

This program will support the development of innovative and interdisciplinary training internships that will directly contribute to the development of highly qualified personnel through work-integrated learning and advancement of state-of-the-art innovation, through which the benefits to the health and digital technology sector will be realized.

This initiative has three major goals:

Increasing AI data readiness of members to facilitate DHDP appliance deployment;
Develop AI specialists with appreciation of life sciences concepts and processes; and,
Upgrade clinical and scientific researchers' and trainees understanding of AI concepts to assist in science and health care.

The investments by our partners, like Mitacs, in training programs, R&D initiatives, and industrial internships will also develop a deep pool of expertise, with STEM graduates that have multi-disciplinary exposure, including AI, health-related topics, as well as in some cases entrepreneurship and business exposure.

Now accepting letters of Intent-LOI deadline: June 18, 2021.

More information here

Postdoctoral Opportunities

Scotiabank Postdoctoral Fellowship on Ethical and
Inclusive AI at the AI + Society Initiative

The AI + Society Initiative at the University of Ottawa is seeking candidates for a Scotiabank Postdoctoral Fellowship on Ethical and Inclusive AI that will support an innovative research program focused on reimagining how to design ethical and inclusive Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems.
Applicants are encouraged to propose creative ideas for a postdoctoral fellowship, emphasizing how they plan to contribute to new knowledge in developing effective inclusive and participatory ethical design/engineering frameworks for AI systems that avoid the disturbing risk of amplifying global digital injustices through AI for marginalized populations (women, youth, seniors, Indigenous People, LGBTQIA+, racialized people, people with disabilities, and linguistic minorities—and those marginalized by intersecting oppressions).

Further details for the application can be found here
The selection committee will start to review applications on June 30, 2021 (new deadline!)

Research Chairs Opportunities

Research Chair in Computers, Science, and Engineering
Florida Polytechnic University

US$25,000 for 4 months (September to December OR January to April)
Now accepting applications for awards to be taken up in the 2022-2023 Academic Year
Applications accepted until November 15, 2021
The next competition, for awards to be taken up in the 2023-2024 academic year, will open in May 2022

Florida Polytechnic University is the state’s 12th public university and the newest member of the State University System of Florida. Dedicated exclusively to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics), the University blends applied research with industry partnerships to give students an academically rigorous education with real-world relevance.

More information here

The Foundation for Educational Exchange between Canada and the United States of America (Fulbright Canada) is a binational, treaty-based, non-governmental, not-for-profit organization with a mandate to identify the best and brightest minds in both countries and engage them in residential academic exchange.

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For information about
AI experts, and AI-related events and opportunities,
visit https://ai4society.ca