The release of ChatGPT in November of 2022 marked a significant milestone in the evolution of AI. Within five days, the chatbot attracted more than one million users. The public was immediately taken by how advanced yet easy to use the tool was and wanted to learn more. For months, every news and media headline seemed to be about this trending topic.

ChatGPT caused a significant bump in interest in AI and our work at Amii. Amii Fellow and Canada CIFAR AI Chair Alona Fyshe spoke on how ChatGPT can be incorporated into the classroom and how the tool can elevate learning. Ross Mitchell, Amii Fellow and newly minted Canada CIFAR AI Chair, shared his work with “mini ChatGPTs” in the healthcare system. ChatGPT was also top of mind at Upper Bound, with Finbarr Timber's session on “5 years of GPT” being so popular he had to give the talk twice.

ChatGPT was, without question, the top trending topic in AI from the last twelve months. The increased interest yielded more than 3.8 million earned media impressions about Amii globally.

The increased attention on AI caused by ChatGPT also ushered in a heated debate about AI regulation. Every heavy hitter in the science community was weighing in on how to properly safeguard this rapidly advancing technology.

Public discourse may have earned Ethical AI the #2 spot on this year's trend list, but for Amii, responsible AI has always been a top consideration. We care and think deeply about how AI and ML research is ethically developed, adopted by industry, and taught to students, professionals, and broader society. As stewards of “AI for good and for all,” it's our mandate to preserve privacy and fairness and ethically leverage AI to maximize positive impact - in both now and in the future.

This year, we published our Principled AI at Amii framework, which clearly defines and provides full transparency on how Amii approaches the ethical development of AI technologies. We also launched two new courses, AI Ethics - Governance and AI Ethics - Deployment, in partnership with the Digital Governance Council to help support others to do the same.

Considering the already considerable presence AI has in our daily lives, understanding AI is no longer an asset — it's a necessity. And with AI technology quickly evolving, it's safe to say this education-focused trend is here to stay.

Capitalizing on the tech's potential requires us to be AI-ready—that is, to have the knowledge and skills to understand what AI can do and how to work with it. At Amii, 30,983 learners grew their AI literacy through our various course and training offerings last year . Our popular Machine Learning Foundations courses (1 and 2) were made more popular this year thanks to an education grant offered by Scale AI. In total, more than 600 learners completed the go-to introductory ML courses and earned their LinkedIn badges by building a basic understanding of AI.

Amii also launched two new broad-based AI literacy and education programs with the announcement of the AI Everywhere course, a new trail-blazing AI course offered in partnership with the University of Alberta and available to all undergraduate students, and a K-12 pilot program aimed at equipping teachers with the resources they need to teach AI concepts in the classroom.

As organizations embrace and integrate AI into their businesses, the need for AI expertise grows, making the demand for a strong ML talent workforce our 4th-ranking trend.

Canada is a leading source of that in-demand global AI talent. According to Deloitte Canada's recently released Canada's National AI Ecosystem Report, Canada ranks #1 in AI talent concentration compared to other G7 nations. The country's cohort of AI talent rose an average of 38% YoY between 2017 and 2022-23, outpacing the United States (36% increase), the United Kingdom (34%), Germany (30%), France (29%), and Italy (28%).

Amii plays a significant role in developing and nurturing Canada's AI talent pipeline. Through our work-integrated learning, internship, and residency programs, Amii helps students and recent grads build the technical and soft skills they need to be successful in their AI careers. These programs help emerging AI professionals kick-start their careers while supporting companies in sourcing the right technical talent for their ML projects.

Last year, Amii connected 189 students and early-career professionals with on-the-job work experience opportunities. Many of these led to full-time employment opportunities - a benefit to both the early-career professional and the company needing quality ML talent.

There is an undeniable need to address diversity and inclusion challenges within the field of AI and tech more widely. Fostering diversity ensures that AI systems are created with multiple perspectives, backgrounds and experiences in mind, guarding against the perpetuation (or even magnification) of human-based bias and discrimination. It presents an opportunity to identify and correct those very forces that are often invisible to individuals, creating more equitable circumstances for people as they interact with institutions.

At Amii, we believe that AI must include all people and perspectives to reach its fullest potential. As a proud participant of the Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) 50-30 Challenge, Amii is committed to increasing opportunities for underrepresented groups to participate in the AI ecosystem. A great example is Kickstart, a free program to support women and gender-diverse individuals to explore careers in AI; the 2023 program saw a 25% increase in applicants.

Another example is Upper Bound, our annual, week-long gathering of AI professionals from around the globe. To make Upper Bound more accessible for marginalized communities, we offered a sponsor-supported Talent Bursary Program to help with ticket, travel, and accommodation costs. This year, the bursary program empowered 833 in-person and 676 online participants from 22 countries to attend Upper Bound at little to no out-of-pocket cost. 81% of those recipients self-identified as belonging to an underrepresented group in STEM.

Whether it's optimizing operational efficiencies, enhancing customer experiences, or unlocking novel insights from data, AI is no longer technology limited to “tech giants.” Without a doubt, ML is revolutionizing business, and the companies leaping in early are coming out ahead. An increasing number of companies, big and small, are successfully using AI to support their strategic priorities and solve specific business problems, such as improving customer service and automating labour-intensive activities.

As one of Canada's National AI Institutes, growing the capacity of businesses to adopt these new technologies continues to be a top priority for Amii. Leaning into our strength of AI research and drawing a bridge into industry, Amii worked with 107 companies across various sectors to explore and apply AI and ML - a 56% increase over the previous year. From real-world applications in construction, supply chain, and energy to using ML to match clients with virtual assistants, it's been exciting to see companies identify and develop AI cases that drive actual value for their businesses and consumers. We expect to see continued growth in adoption as more companies quickly realize the economic potential of AI.