DECEMBER 2020

Grant Opportunities

Tec de Monterrey - UofA Collaborative Projects and Workshop

UAlberta and ITESM, wishing to further their partnerships in Energy, Artificial Intelligence and other areas of mutual interest, have established a competitive seed grant program to encourage and catalyze collaborations between the two universities.
UAlberta and ITESM will each commit CAN $90,000 per year in funding for the seed grant program. Proposals may request up to a maximum of CAN $45,000 for one year (with up to CAN $22,500 provided from each institution).
A workshop will be held on December 15, from 1:30pm to 3:00pm, between AI researchers in the two institutions to explore opportunities for collaboration and proposal development.
Please register here to participate.

Call For AI Instructional Materials

The AI4Society Signature Area calls for proposals to create instructional materials, for modules on artificial intelligence and its social/ethical impact. Proposals will be funded with up to $1000.
Proposals will be adjudicated as they are submitted and up until the earmarked funds are exhausted.

University Of Alberta and Edmonton Police Services Seed Grant Program

The Office of the Vice-President (Research and Innovation) (OVPRI), the Kule Institute for Advanced Study (KIAS), and the AI4Society Signature Area (AI4S) at the University of Alberta, in partnership with the Edmonton Police Service (EPS), are pleased to announce a new seed grant program designed to encourage the co-development of research collaborations between the entities. A total funding commitment of the program - $30,000 each year for three years ($90,000) - will be made available to fund projects arising from this collaboration.
Deadline: EXTENDED to 14 January 2021

Joint Initiative for Digital Citizen Research - Connection Grants

The IDCR aims to develop a better understanding of the impacts of online disinformation in Canada, in order to better inform programs and policies, and to build Canada’s capacity to conduct research on – and related to – countering online disinformation and other related online harms. This initiative will also help foster a community of researchers engaged with digital citizenship and online disinformation in Canada.
Deadline: February 1, 2021.

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We are proud to announce two new collaboratories!

Dr. Jonathan Cohn is leading The AI Arts & Culture Salon with a fantastic team, which includes Marilène Oliver (Fine Arts), Nicole Denier (Sociology), Julie Rak (EFS), Astrid Ensslin (MLCS), Sourayan Mookerjea, Matthew Guzdial (CS), Daniel Evans (Fine Arts).
Stay tuned for updates!

Marilène Oliver is leading the Know Thyself as a Virtual Reality collaboratory, which includes as team members Dr. Pierre Boulanger, Dr Silvia Casini’s (University of Aberdeen), Dr. Jonathan Cohn, Dr. Astrid Ensslin, Dr Martin Ferguson-Pell, Dr. Gabor Fichtinger (Queen’s University, Ontario), Dr. Jacob Jaremko, Dr. Nathanial Maeda, Dr. Manal Kleib, Dr. Kumaradevan Punithakumar, Dr. Greg Kawchuk, Dr. Lianne McTavish, Dr. Ubaka Ogbogu, Dr. Scott Smallwood, Dr. Richard Thompson.
More to come!

Are you considering proposing a Collaboratory?
Please refer to our information page, and don't hesitate to contact us for more information if you think you have a proposal for us!

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.

University of Alberta AI Arts and Culture Monthly Salon

Do you have AI arts and Cultures related research you’d like to workshop? Perhaps a paper you are revising for publication or a research creation project you’d like some notes on? The AI Arts & Cultures Salon at the University of Alberta is an interdisciplinary workshop focused on giving scholars a chance to share and present new in-process work! We prioritize early career scholars, but anyone is welcome to apply. If you have some research you’d like to discuss with some like-minded scholars, we would love to hear from you. We welcome scholars and practitioners from across the arts, humanities & social sciences working on or with AI, Machine Learning, and other related technologies.
Format: Throughout 2021, we will be doing monthly online workshops focused on one research and/or artistic project. All papers and/or artistic works will be pre-circulated. During the workshop, you will give a 10-15 minute presentation on your work followed by an extended Q&A.
How to Apply: Please send an extended abstract or full draft or images of the work you would like to present to cohn@ualberta.ca

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New Course, Winter 2021

CMPUT 297: AI for Non-Scientists, taught by Jonathan Schaeffer

Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology is ubiquitous. Did you use a GPS today? Shop online? Read email? Use your credit card? You probably used AI dozens of times already today, and didn't even know it. While AI has been deployed in popular applications for decades, the explosion of media interest in the technology has caused AI to emerge from the shadows. With its potential to revolutionize the way we live, work, and play, everyone needs to understand what AI is and what it is not.
AI creates the illusion of intelligence. Today’s AI researchers are the Harry Houdini’s of our day, conjuring up new technologies that produce impressive results. Yet when you look inside to see what is actually going on, the methods used may seem stupid (from a human’s point of view). The reality is that AI systems today are neither “artificial” nor “intelligent.” No matter; the ends justify the means.
This course introduces students to the concepts of AI and helps demystify them. Much of the course centers on applications that illustrate how AI programs work and identifies their limitations. An important part of the course is understanding the many dimensions of how AI will impact society in the short-term and the long-term. Gazing into your crystal ball, are you worried that AI systems might become smart—or smarter—than humans? Fear not. Such a possibility is far in the future. To go from superficial algorithms to intelligent machines is science fiction today. To become science fact, numerous profound technological breakthroughs are a prerequisite before this possibility can even be contemplated.
The key ideas in AI are introduced using games as example applications. Building high-performance game-playing programs was one of the early "grand challenge" problems of AI research. In this respect it is game over; AI research has been tremendously successful here. The AI ideas demonstrated using games translate into many real-world applications that you use every day.
No programming or mathematical skills are required for this course.

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CRC Tier II Positions, Western

Western is looking for up to 5 candidates for Tier 2 CRC chairs in the areas of AI, data analytics, communications technology, advanced manufacturing, energy and/or climate change. Western University has made a number of hires in AI and data analytics – to the point that it has the largest faculty cohort who became faculty affiliates at the Vector Institute last year.

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Book Review

Human Compatible: Artificial Intelligence and the Problem of Control
by Stuart Russell

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