Routeique and Amii Answer Viewer Questions in ICON-IQ Webinar
Earlier this month, CEO and Co-Founder of Routeique, Mike Allan, joined ICON-IQ Founder and CEO Jason Byrne, along with other special guests, Adam Danyleyko and David Staszak from Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute(Amii), on a webinar livestream to discuss how AI is revolutionizing businesses.
Key Takeaways:
- AI technologies are and will be, impacting society and the job market.
- AI bias is a concern, and ensuring that the data used to train AI models is diverse and representative is important.
- Amii and Routeique are working together to optimize warehouse management using machine learning.
ICON-IQ was founded in 2015 as Jobs Alberta. They seek to address talent shortages facing Canadian companies. Their international recruiting team and Canadian immigration specialists work together to locate talent-rich areas worldwide to recruit and relocate exceptional candidates for Canadian companies.
A Discussion of AI Bias
A question from a webinar participant brought this topic up. It was discussed that, on the one hand, many advancements are democratizing technology. But, on the other hand, AI learning models like ChatGPT and others are getting so big that only very few companies on the cutting edge can create them, with Dave noting, “While everyone can have it in their hand, sure, it's all kind of based on a few decisions that are made here or there.”
When addressing these potential issues, AI-focused organizations like Amii strive to remove biases from the AI models they work on. Adam notes, “we work really hard to take principled AI as a big focus of all the work that we do.” Amii uses data sheets or data sets to clearly understand the data the AI is sourcing and where it got it from. By understanding the history of the data, they can ensure that that bias is removed, and they can avoid “the old saying, garbage in garbage out,” as Adam noted. Model cards and algorithmic assessment tools are also used in this area.
An Exploration of AI’s Impact on Jobs
While it is clear that AI will alter the job market, that doesn’t mean it will take opportunities from human workers. A mantra at Routeique that Mike Allan brought up was, “We want to create Iron Man, not Terminator. We’re not trying to wipe people out. We’re trying to augment them. We're not we're not trying to wipe people out. We're trying to augment them. We want to give you the HUD. We want to give you the the tools to make you superhuman.”
Routeique aims to improve people's work, create new jobs and discover unforeseen optimization opportunities using AI rather than using it to replace the human element. “(...) you free people up to do people tasks, things that people are good at, that they find value in, that they are fulfilled. Whose day wouldn't be better if you were spent all day doing things that meant something to you that you felt like you were making a difference,” says Mike.
Upskilling in an Evolving Job Market
Flowing from the discussion of changes in the job market, the conversation turned to education and upskilling.
The discussion highlighted that, in addition to formal academic options like university, individuals now have a wealth of knowledge easily accessible and at their fingertips, so it is easier than ever to upskill your abilities to enhance your skills within your existing field, or a new one. “I just like to learn things and sources. I've taken some of the training that Amii offers,” says Mike Allan, “We've taken some more formal stuff. Udemy. Udacity YouTube. There's never been more sort of opportunity to ingest and evaluate things and see how they can fit into your tool set. I think it's a mentality thing.”
The webinar speakers also touched on some skills that can benefit those seeking to upskill:
- knowing how to use AI tools as part of a workflow
- having the skills to communicate between technical and non-technical fields
- having the ability to adapt and learn new skills
Our CEO and Co-founder Mike also noted that the technology and AI field isn’t just restricted to those with niche expertise or advanced degrees in AI and ML: a wide range of individuals can learn about or harness these tools as part of their jobs.
At Routeique, we’re also interested in how AI tools can contribute to education and upskilling!
Routeique and Amii
Routeique and Amii are working together to optimize warehouse management using AI technology. By using machine learning to forecast better, optimize pick routes, and optimize warehouse layouts, Routeique and Amii look to bring forward never-before-seen optimization potential to the supply chain.
To learn more about all the above insights, find the link to the full webinar here.
