A BRAVE NEW DIGITAL WORLD
A BRAVE NEW DIGITAL WORLD Local experts offer suggestions on how business should adopt AI
I t wasn’t long ago that most Canadian businesses were reluctant to embrace AI. The Canadian Study on Business Conditions conducted by Statistics Canada in spring 2023 showed only 6.1 per cent of businesses in this country made use of artificial intelligence in producing goods and delivery services during the previous year. Fast forward to spring 2024 and that number doubled to 12.2 per cent, an increase driven in large part by information and cultural industries (up 20.9 per cent), scientific and technical services (13.7 per cent), and finance and insurance (10.9 per cent). BY JIM TIMLICK
It’s a trend the vice-president of business development and community initiatives at the Manitoba Institute of Trades and Technology expects to see continue and even pick up speed in this province, especially among businesses seeking to become more productive and competitive. “Today I would say every organization uses AI in at least one function. It’s become cross- sectoral,” Beverlie Stuart says. “It’s so important that businesses look to adopt AI. They cannot stand on the sidelines and watch. They need it to build capacity among their existing team but also to future-proof their skills. If they’re not adopting it, they’re not going to grow and they’re not going to remain competitive.” Kirsten Thompson, project manager and senior communications and marketing specialist with Manitoba Education Research and Learning Information Networks (MERLIN), agrees. That’s why Thompson thinks it’s so important for companies looking to adopt AI in their day- to-day operations to ensure their employees are digitally literate and have the skills needed to operate the latest devices and be able to analyze the information they produce. “Using a tool and understanding how it works and how it impacts
your day-to-day operation are two very different things and we still have some pretty large gaps in that area,” says Thompson, whose organization supports the use of technology to improve educational services in the province. “As a result, skill sets like critical thinking and problem solving within the digital sphere are increasingly essential.” Stuart says post-secondary institutions will play a critical role in providing the training needed for individuals to get up to speed in an ever-evolving workplace where AI is becoming increasingly commonplace. She’s already seen how AI is shaping some of the programming offered at MITT. “Because we engage with industry continually and they inform our programming, they’re telling us that we need to have this embedded in our curriculum because these are the skills that we’re looking for,” she says. “We’re trying to ensure that today’s learners are coming out with those skills so that they are ready for work.” Thompson says it’s too early to know what the impact of
Kirsten Thompson
AI has been in terms of job losses here in Manitoba. However, she believes that many
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EMILI managing director Jacqueline Keena and Innovation Farms manager Leanne Koroscil beside an Agi3 Crop Sentry system, an AI-driven Internet of Things platform that provides 24-7 crop monitoring and analytics on Innovation Farms.
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