Discover AI Mini-Challenge #3

In 2021, UTMIST partnered with Microsoft and Agorize to organize a Mini-Challenge on Natural Language Processing (NLP) & Conversational AI (ConvAI) as part of their Discover AI Upskilling Journey. Students from Canadian universities took part in completing educational modules over the month of April and worked on technical solutions for an industrial application or social cause.

Final (Live) Event

On May 3rd, 2-3:30 pm we celebrate our project finalists! Everyone is invited (even non-participants of the challenge) to join this event for an opportunity to get deeper insight into NLP and ConvAI technologies. After our finalists present their solutions, we will have a short quiz (with prizes) and feature guest speaker Professor Frank Rudzicz, who will give a short talk on NLP. Then, we’ll present the competition prizes, which include Microsoft Surface products, such as the Pro and Go devices. Even if you didn’t participate in the Mini-Challenge, there is still a chance to win a $25 Amazon gift card in the raffle!

Don’t forget to register for this event on Eventbrite and join us on Microsoft Teams!

Event Schedule (May 3rd, 2021)

• 2:00-2:10 PM: Welcome Word from Microsoft Representative - Wemba Opota
• 2:10-2:45 PM: Project Finalist Presentations and Q&A
• 2:45-2:55 PM: Quiz
• 2:55-3:20 PM: Keynote - Professor Frank Rudzicz
• 3:20-3:25 PM: Challenge Results and Prizes
• 3:25-3:30 PM: Closing Remarks

Times are in Eastern (Canada/US)

About Our Guest Speaker

Professor Frank Rudzicz is a scientist at the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute at Unity Health Toronto, Director of Artificial Intelligence at Surgical Safety Technologies Inc., an associate professor of Computer Science at the University of Toronto, co-founder of WinterLight Labs Inc., faculty member at the Vector Institute for Artificial Intelligence, and CIFAR Chair in Artificial Intelligence. His work is in machine learning in healthcare, especially in natural language processing, speech recognition, and surgical safety. His research has appeared in popular media such as Scientific American, Wired, CBC, and the Globe and Mail, and in scientific press such as Nature.

This talk is a high-level overview of the field of natural language processing (NLP). First, we will introduce the concept of this discipline in general; this includes some brief history and application areas currently under investigation. Second, we will touch on three core concepts of NLP: embeddings, recurrent (temporal) models, and finally state-of-the-art transformers. Finally, we will briefly discuss the use of NLP in healthcare and surgery. At the end of this brief talk, listeners will ideally have a concept of what technologies are applied, how they are set up, and one or two applications of their use.

About Mini-Challenge #3: Natural Language Processing & Conversational AI

Did you miss the Mini-Challenge? As part of their Discover AI Upskilling Journey, you can still complete modules on Microsoft Learn, such as the NLP modules below.