Amii marks a decade of AI4Good bootcamp

The Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute reflected on the 10th anniversary edition of AI4Good Lab, a program set up to increase diversity in the field. This year's cohort saw 85 women and gender-diverse people take part in seven-week programs at Amii as well as at Mila in Montreal and the Vector Institute in Toronto. The 20 Edmonton participants spent the first four weeks in an intensive machine-learning bootcamp, with coding workshops, a foundational lecture from Amii Fellow Marlos C. Machado, socials, tours of local tech labs, and discussions on AI ethics, project management, and trust and safety. "Watching the Edmonton cohort evolve over seven weeks is always a summer highlight," said Warren Johnston of Amii. "This year, participants arrived with raw curiosity and left as a confident, connected community poised to solve real-world problems with machine learning."

The Edmonton cohort brought four projects to the national Demo Day at Mila: Vital Byte, which turns seniors' blood work results into personalized meal plans and grocery lists; Rebuildr, which helps people navigate insurance and claims documents after natural disasters; Furcast, which predicts animal shelter outcomes; and FEEDS, a forecasting tool to help food banks prepare for demand spikes. FEEDS received the Accelerator Award for its potential social impact at the Demo Day at Mila in Montreal.

Participants will continue to develop their skills through Amii's AI Career Accelerator program. Applications for the 2027 cohort will open in the fall. Participants said the final projects were a testament to the group's shared passion, skill, and friendship. "The feeling of being able to not only pursue but complete a passion project with like-minded people is something I really can't put into words," participant Autumn McFetridge said in Amii's post about the cohort.