A reason for optimism: The AI4Good Lab Industry Night 2022

The AI4Good Lab Industry Night showcased amazing female AI talent, working to help solve important social challenges. And RBC Borealis and RBC were there.

The AI4Good Lab is one of those programs that creates exponential opportunities. As the leading Canadian AI-training initiative for women-identified STEM students, the lab helps encourage diversity in the field of AI. Participants work together to use AI to solve a social problem, delivering untold benefits to their local communities. And they work shoulder-to-shoulder with other leaders in the field of AI, building their networks and expanding the ecosystem.

At this year’s AI4Good Lab Industry Night, program partners – like RBC Borealis, RBC, DeepMind, Ivado and Google – had an opportunity to (virtually) meet the nearly 90  participants of this year’s program. Many of the program’s alumni were also in attendance. So, too, were representatives from CIFAR, one of Canada’s leading global research organizations.

Pictured left to right are Lucy Liu, Director, Data Science, RBC, Carey Mende-Gibson, Location Intelligence Ambassador, RBC, Eirene Seiradaki, Director, Research Partnerships, RBC Borealis and April Cooper, Senior Visual Designer, RBC Borealis.

Industry participants – including Dr. Eirene Seiradaki, Director of Research Partnerships at RBC Borealis, Carey Mende-Gibson, RBC’s Location Intelligence ambassador, and Lucy Liu, Director of Data Science at RBC – talked with attendees about their experiences in the AI industry, discussed career opportunities and explored various career paths that the participants could take in the industry. For the entire two hours, our three tables  and our virtually cozy couches were filled to capacity. It was only after the end of the event that we had the chance to exchange visits to the tables of our partners from CIFAR and AMII. Eirene did not miss the opportunity to catch up with our good friend, Warren Johnston, and hear first-hand the news from AMII’s recent AI Week 2022.

AI4Good Lab is one of several programs that RBC and RBC Borealis support, aimed at encouraging diversity in AI. The suite of programs includes RBC Borealis internships, Let’s SOLVE it and RBC Amplify programs, offering more opportunities to work with subject-matter experts, advance socially responsible development and adoption of AI, and build careers in the field.