Research in Focus is a YFile series that explores the vibrant research landscape of York University’s Organized Research Units (ORUs).
These centres of research excellence serve as dynamic hubs where interdisciplinary experts collaborate with partners to tackle some of the globe’s most pressing challenges. Each edition invites readers to explore the transformative work undertaken at York University through a Q-and-A with ORU directors.
This edition explores the mission and impacts of the Centre for Aritifical Intelligence (AI) & Society (CAIS) and features director James Elder, professor at the Lassonde School of Engineering and York Research Chair in Human and Computer Vision.
Q: What is the mission of your ORU and its core areas of research?
A: The Centre for Artificial Intelligence & Society (CAIS) unites researchers who are collectively advancing state of the art theory and practice of AI systems, law, governance and public policy. The systems approach places emphasis on how AI technologies operate when embedded in real-world contexts, interacting with humans and other technologies. Research focuses on AI systems that address societal priorities in health care, smart cities and sustainability, and are fair, explainable, reliable and trusted.
Q: How does your ORU foster collaboration and partnerships to enhance research impact?
A: Collaborations and partnerships are extensive and span the domains of computer science, software engineering, electrical engineering, robotics, kinesiology, psychology, media and communications studies, health care, law and governance. Two focus research areas that have emerged are AI for mobility and social robotics in health care.
Collaborations and partnerships often grow out of events such as our CAIS Talks public seminar series and outreach talks given by our members. For example, an emerging collaboration with AMD Markham grew out of a keynote I gave at the first Cross Future Hub AI Summit held at the Mars building in downtown Toronto. There have been subsequent follow-up CAIS Talks seminars given by AMD at York.
We have also been facilitating workshops to explore formal agreements with other international research institutions such as the Centre for Critical Computational Studies in Germany. Collaborations between research groups within CAIS are extensive – including experts in global health, personalized medicine, energy management, software engineering and more.
Many of these collaborations involve industry partners, including: Solaris robots, Transplan, AMD Markham, EVA Alliance, QuantumEV, Garpoint, iNAGO, Ingenium Canada, Seasons Retirement Communities, Global DWS, Esri Canada and RxPx.
Public sector partners include: Ministry of Transportation Ontario, Baycrest, National Science Museum, Women’s College Hospital and Unionville Home Society.
Q: What real-world challenges is your ORU working to address and how does it align with York’s institutional priorities?
A: CAIS is engaged in exciting research on a broad range of topics in AI and society. This year, results of the research were disseminated through 116 publications, 13 presentations, seven research leadership activities, four exhibitions of work, three panel discussions, two creative outputs and two patents.
Health applications include: engineered cell therapies, personalized medicine, stem cell research, neuromotor control and head trauma, navigation and age-related cognitive decline, socially assistive robots for aging health, brain health in soldiers and civilians affected by blast impacts, off-label drug use during COVID-19 in Africa, AI and fairness in medical imaging, computer vision monitoring of sleep patterns in late pregnancy, detection of drug-related harms on social media, predicting and evaluating response to cancer treatment.
Smart cities applications include: cybersecurity for smart grid, AI for micromobility and traffic safety, smart wheelchairs for airports, public service announcements for AI transparency, data analytics to understand homelessness, reinforcement learning for EV charging management.
Foundations of our research include: machine learning, governance, law and business, consumer experience, AI transparency and explainability, impact of AI on labour conditions, AI and refugee law and indigenous IP rights, as well as uses of AI in artistic creation. We also have funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) through a CREATE (Collaborative Research and Training Experience program) for a training proposal on intelligent adaptive autonomous systems, led by Lassonde Professor Ping Wang. These projects are aligned with United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as well as institutional priorities on health-care research, sustainability and research on the integration of AI into society.
Q: What innovative approaches or methodologies distinguish your ORU’s research?
A: CAIS is distinguished from other AI-related research centres around the world in our focus on how AI is integrated with other technologies, with humans in the loop and with governance mechanisms that will foster trust, lower risk and improve fairness and safety. Emblematic of this is Lassonde Professor Laleh Seyyed-Kalantari’s research on AI fairness for medical imaging.
Q: What accomplishments or upcoming projects can you highlight and how do you see your ORU shaping the future?
A: We are very excited about a new project called Co-Creating Intelligent Neuro-Technologies for Healthy Aging (CINTHeA). This project unites nine CAIS faculty members with colleagues from Queen’s University and a host of technology and senior care partners to create new AI and robotics technologies that will help assess, assist and engage older adults, improving quality of life in senior care environments. This project is funded by a $1.5-million team grant from Connected Minds and is linked to a $3-million infrastructure application proposal made to the Canada Foundation for Innovation, titled Socially Assistive Robots for Aging Health Laboratory (SARAHLAB).
Learn more about Research & Innovation at York University.