Montreal’s AI community stands at a crossroads: Will our collaborative approach prevail in the face of global divisions and domestic policy shifts?

Editor’s Note: This is the second of a four-part series on Artificial Intelligence with a purpose of examining Montreal’s position within the AI research and development marketplace, and a view as to how the AI is being implemented in real-life situations, such as Montreal Canadiens player development and more efficient deployment of Urgences Santé people and vehicles. (The Montrealer October, 2024)     

“The academic culture in Montreal is at the centre of our success in AI research and development. Mila is the fruit of this culture.” – Ludovic Soucisse, MILA

Last month, we looked at how Montreal’s unique culture has contributed to our city becoming a world leader in artificial intelligence research – despite the Canadian public’s relative pessimism regarding the technology. The 2024 Global AI Index finds the US, UK and France similarly wary of AI, suggesting that fears regarding the impact of machine learning models are largely confined to the West.

AI - MILA head office in Montreal

MILA head office in Montreal

Meanwhile, Asia and the Global South have by far the most optimistic views on AI according to the survey, with Kenya, China, and India ranking top three on “I think AI will make the future better.” These regions are also where AI is expected to deliver the most substantial benefits. A recent article in the respected science journal Nature frames AI as “a game-changer for Africa” in health, development and more. One might think this presents an outreach opportunity for Montreal’s deep pool of AI talent – but there’s a catch.

Powerful as they are, contemporary AI models are not a one-size-fits-all technology. Cultural underpinnings that have variously shaped global public life are also shaping very different approaches to AI deployment. Community/group-based Eastern cultures, for example, are more likely to accept public camera arrays and facial recognition systems as providing safety and security, i.e. harmony, while in the West, such systems are routinely resisted as unwelcome surveillance on the individual. Global South cultures also tend to be community-oriented, and this, along with a host of other considerations, is having a significant impact on the success of AI model deployment there.

“The goal is to see which innovations work and in what ways, how we rethink how we bring stakeholders to work together, and what things can be applied according to the different cultures, contexts, interests, and ecosystems.” – Project Coordinator Laetetia Vu

Since 2022, CEIMIA (Montreal International Center of Expertise in Artificial Intelligence) has supported African academic institutions in training junior researchers in responsible AI. CEIMIA’s ongoing State of AI in Africa project meanwhile is exploring the various AI ecosystems on the continent.

“The goal is to see which innovations work and in what ways, how we rethink how we bring stakeholders to work together, and what things can be applied according to the different cultures, contexts, interests, and ecosystems,” says Project Coordinator Laetitia Vu. “I think we may have an advantage in West Africa; we have strong links with Senegal and Cameroon, countries that are part of the Francophonie.”

But there are other, bigger players in the game, right?

“It’s a complex political question,” says Vu, “and the optimistic answer is that we hope to collaborate. But in my opinion, there is already a fight for influence in these regions.”

The “fight for influence” in AI in Africa and across the Global South is, of course, between the world’s AI heavyweights: the USA and China. How will this affect Montreal? Only time and politics will tell whether we will continue to collaborate globally or retreat into an AI silo with our southern neighbour.

Another challenge facing Montreal’s AI community is the sharp decline in enrollments at our top AI institutions – the Université de Montréal and McGill – triggered by new provincial and federal government tuition hikes and caps on international students. Our primary global AI advantage has been our academic talent – could we lose that?

Ludovic Soucisse of Mila (Montreal Institute of Learning Algorithms) believes the short-term impact will be minimal. “The academic culture in Montreal is at the centre of our success in AI research and development. Mila is the fruit of this culture. We have 120 extraordinarily talented professors and a lot of international students. Still, we have not felt a decrease in enrollments because we accept only a few applicants out of many thousands. We are the Ivy League of AI research institutes, like MIT and Stanford.”

While the road ahead is increasingly uncertain, Montreal’s AI community remains strong and optimistic. As global cultures diverge in their approaches to AI and domestic policies reshape our academic landscape, Montreal’s collaborative spirit and adaptability continue to position our city as a machine learning research leader – more than ready to meet the challenges ahead.