The federal government is using an economic diversification fund to invest up to $2.5 million in NWT programs related to digital literacy and artificial intelligence.
The money was announced on Friday by Rebecca Chartrand, the minister for economic development agency CanNor.
Up to $2.3 million will go to Prosper NWT, the territorial government’s arm’s-length business development agency, for an AI-driven entrepreneurship and business support centre.
“This three-year project aims to establish a centre that will develop a suite of AI-powered business tools and help businesses develop skills to use them effectively,” a news release stated. “Funding will be used to leverage AI for data and business analytics and to develop in-person and online AI training for business owners.”
In its own news release, Prosper NWT said it hoped more than 350 northern entrepreneurs and businesses will use the advisory services, training and workshops that the centre will offer.
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The Inuvik Tech Society is separately receiving $200,000 for a digital literacy, online safety and AI training program.
The federal government said the programs would help northerners “make the most of innovative new technologies while staying safe in a changing digital world.” Cash for the Yukon and Nunavut was also announced.
AI remains profoundly controversial on multiple levels: leaving aside the prospect of annihilation on which sci-fi movies have long dwelt, the technology already has significant environmental consequences and implications for the labour force if digital tools replace jobs.
For plenty of people, even seeing artificially generated images in their Facebook feed remains icky. The technology has complicated humans’ ability to tell what is real at a time when disinformation was already a massive problem worldwide.
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At the same time, AI is already proving itself capable of making many tasks much easier. Proponents say failing to adopt it would be the equivalent of ignoring the internet in the 1990s and 2000s, leaving companies lagging behind.
NWT industry minister Caitlin Cleveland was quoted as saying that this funding will let northern companies “explore AI in practical and responsible ways” so they can ultimately “save time, reduce administrative pressures, and strengthen day-to-day operations.”
Evan Solomon – a broadcaster who is now the federal government’s AI minister – said technology like this is needed by northern businesses to “stay competitive and succeed in the changing world.”
