Teams test machine learning models on makeship racetrack at college

The car swerved this way, that way, then right off the road.

It didn’t hit Sam Lee.

It was just one-eighteenth the size of a real car, boxed in by knee-high walls bearing Amazon Web Services’ logo and without any driver or passengers.

Lee waited in line. Soon she and her wife would program the zigzagging car with their artificial intelligence model — maybe their code would keep the vehicle on track.

“I always am curious about machine learning. You know, self-driving cars,” she said.

She joined 29 other teams, made up of students and industry, to test their machine learning models on a makeshift racetrack at Red River College Polytechnic’s Manitou a bi Bii daziigae campus Thursday.

It was the first time the college worked with Amazon Web Services, Amazon’s cloud computing branch, for such an event.

The post-secondary sector is grappling with artificial intelligence — how to use it and what to expect of it — as the sector continues to expand at a rapid pace.

“How do we stay ahead of it, use it as our tool as opposed to being afraid of it?” asked Kirk Johnson, the college’s dean of business, information technology and creative arts.

It was a question to be discussed that evening, when Manitoba academics and industry would gather over the future of artificial intelligence.

The day, though, was devoted to racing — and to using Amazon’s programs.

“I barely (knew) about machine learning,” Lee said, inching forward in line.

She and her wife used Amazon Web Services DeepRacer program, which teaches people how to create a machine learning model guiding an autonomous car.

Lee, 40, spent evenings in the kitchen, watching her virtual car perform on its virtual racetrack. Her first time testing the model in a physical car, provided by Amazon, came Thursday.

“We really want to spend a lot of time and energy in Winnipeg and western Canada,” said Coral Kennett, Amazon Web Services’ head of education in Canada.

Amazon is building a $4.3 billion cloud computing hub in Calgary. The company said the site would create 950 full-time jobs across Canada when it announced the news in 2021.

The hub will open later this year or in early 2024, Kennett said.

“We really want to be present here, on the ground,” she added. “This is a great way to get everybody all together.”

Juan Flores and Ruben Barrios — a current student and a recent alum of Red River College Polytechnic — signed up to race Thursday.

Both would happily take jobs with Amazon, they said. They sat steps away from Amazon Web Services employees.

Knowing machine learning is handy, Barrios said — even if he doesn’t land a job at Amazon, he could get a position upgrade down the line.

Demand for courses like DeepRacer seemingly grows every year, Kennett said. She sees customers in health care, education, banking and manufacturing, among other sectors.

Sixty-seven per cent of Canadian businesses reported difficulties finding digital workers, a recent survey by Gallup and Amazon Web Services survey found.

“We want to make sure that we’re contributing to the skills demand,” Kennett said.

Amazon Web Services has more than 500 free courses online, teaching about cloud technology, generative artificial intelligence and other aspects of technology. It’s set a goal of training 29 million people by 2025.

Technology can seem overwhelming; hence the need for activities like DeepRacer, Kennett stated.

Jordon Proctor was hoping for a middle-of-the-pack finish at the 17 by 26 ft. racetrack Thursday.

It was his first dip into artificial intelligence.

“(I’m) getting ready to enjoy a potentially long journey,” he said.

Not with DeepRacer, but with machine learning. He’s the Canadian Pork Council’s data and development manager. The organization hopes to use machine learning for disease modelling, among other things.

“You can’t stop (artificial intelligence use),” said Johnson from Red River College Polytechnic. “It’s here, and it’s only going to continue to be here.”

Post-secondaries need to embrace it, finding ways for students to use AI as a tool, he explained.

After all, companies like Amazon are hiring workers with these skills, he continued.

Around 100 organizations were involved with Thursday’s events, Johnson noted. Some were sponsors who covered the $50,000 cost of the day.

Many organizations joined an evening talk on the future of AI. Nobody seems sure where AI will end up, Johnson said earlier.

He praised the race day, saying the fusion of industry and post-secondary was “exactly what we saw” when building the new campus.

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