Finding a way to capitalize on the emergence of Artificial Intelligence.
That’s one takeaway from the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas for Vic Fedeli, MPP for Nipissing.
“At the show last year, I may have heard ‘A.I.’ five times,” he says. “This would have been five times every minute this trip. Everybody is realizing the power of A.I. and we need to be positioned to make sure that our students that we’re training, our employees that are being trained understand the power of A.I. and how it’s going to change the future.”
One example is how vehicles will be in the not-so-distant future.
“I saw the examples of these autonomous vehicles that sort of do the thinking for you,” he says. “It scared the pants off me but it’s there and we need to be ready for it and find out how to capitalize on it for Northern Ontario.”
Fedeli says batteries were another focus at the show.
“We’re in a great position in Northern Ontario from the critical minerals,” he says. “Every single booth had something that needed a battery whether it’s an Electric Vehicle (EV) battery or batteries for consumer products.”
Fedeli says that bodes well for North Bay with major mining engineering and equipment manufacturing companies here.
“On the other side of it, Canadore is in a great position,” he says. “They no longer have an auto maintenance program it’s an EV technician program. It’s the A.I. side that we need to spend some more thinking on how we can continue to put out the graduates.”
With 85,000 employees working in the field, Fedeli adds Ontario is a real centre for A.I. around the world.
The trade mission also brought Ontario’s Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade to the Biotech Showcase in California.