Canadian firms fall behind in adoption of artificial intelligence: Forbes

MONTREAL – A new report says artificial intelligence deployment has not yet been a “real success” for Canadian companies, in spite of the country’s reputation as an AI hotbed.

The study from Forbes Insights ranks Canada last out of 10 countries, with just 31 per cent of adopters of the technology claiming successful AI deployment, versus 59 per cent in India and 58 per cent in Germany.

The report also found Canadian companies came last for full deployment throughout their firm, and encountered the most resistance from employees due to concerns about job security.

Jodie Wallis, head of AI in Canada for Accenture – one of three companies that commissioned the report – says an ethics-first approach, classic Canadian caution in the marketplace and “humility among executives” help explain the low numbers.

Conducted in July 2018, the global report surveyed executives at 305 companies, the bulk of them with more than 5,000 employees.

Canada has become a hot spot for big data analytics over the last few years, with Google, Microsoft, Facebook, Adobe and General Motors announcing millions of dollars in investment in AI research hubs in Quebec, Ontario and Alberta, helping to make the country a world leader in machine-learning development.