Artificial intelligence has found a foothold in Saskatchewan, so how is it being used?
CBC
Artificial intelligence has become increasingly present in people's lives, ranging from the ability to create a generative image in a messages with simple prompts, to using data to reduce workplace injuries.
So how is AI being used in Saskatchewan?
That was a question on Alex Fallon's mind some months back when he searched "artificial intelligence Saskatchewan" online in hopes of finding an organization, event or more information.
He found nothing.
About 10 months ago, Fallon founded AiSK in Saskatoon. The goal: Spur discussion about artificial intelligence, learn how it might be used in different industries, and develop a community around it in the province.
"If we could get those different kind of groups and sectors together it would help spur discussion on AI in Saskatchewan," he told Leisha Grebinski, host of CBC's Blue Sky.
In one case, Fallon said, he spoke with a company that uses AI for mine sites, drawing on data from health and safety reports and previous accidents to try to predict potential accidents.
In others, he says, he learned that artificial intelligence has already been used in agriculture to determine how much fertilizer to spread on crops by analyzing weather patterns. In another, the technology helped write a play.
However, artificial intelligence has been criticized for ripping off artists and threatening their livelihoods.
"There are pros and cons," Fallon said, "and I think it's all about how you, as an individual, as an entrepreneur or in the workplace, adapt and how you can use AI tools to provide a service and do things that maybe are more creative or faster, serve more people."
There have also been concerns about the risk of artificial intelligence to the jobs of everyday workers.
In September, Statistics Canada released a report about the jobs that could be most affected by artificial intelligence in Canada. While jobs with higher exposure to artificial intelligence did not necessarily mean workers were at risk of losing their position, it did suggest AI could transform the work.
Unlike previous technological advances, the report found artificial intelligence is more likely to transform jobs of highly educated workers.
Administrative jobs, business and finance roles and computer and information system workers were all highly exposed to AI-related job transformation and tasks that could be replaced by AI in the future, the study found.
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