The arrival of new data centres in Alberta is coming soon. Read More
Alberta Technology and Innovation purchased more than 30 powerful H100 Nvidia AI graphics processing units
Alberta Technology and Innovation purchased more than 30 powerful H100 Nvidia AI graphics processing units
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The arrival of new data centres in Alberta is coming soon.
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Inside the provincial government — along with private industry — the effect of AI is already here.
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As the province seeks to attract $100 billion of new data centre investment — many focused on processing data and running powerful AI models — the government is taking its own steps to prepare for the widespread adoption of artificial intelligence.
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Speaking to an investment forum this week, Premier Danielle Smith noted the province has begun developing its own AI tools and team to go through mountains of data in an attempt to deliver government services more effectively.
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“If we can figure out what the use cases are, then we will all become more productive,” she told the audience.
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“We’re trying to be a learning, living government in this as well. (Technology Minister) Nate Glubish proactively ordered 32 Nvidia chips so that we could create our own internal AI tool.”
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Earlier this spring, Alberta Technology and Innovation purchased more than 30 powerful H100 Nvidia AI graphics processing units, for $1.3 million, to help it perform AI-enabled analysis “in a secure, sovereign way,” the department said Friday.
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One of the first applications involved examining more than 300,000 surgeries performed at provincial hospitals, to determine which government facilities were able to do them most cost effectively, the premier said.
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Smith said it found some regional hospitals were able to perform knee replacements at less than half the cost recorded in larger, full-service city hospitals.
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“Now it’s a matter of, well, let’s go have a look and see what the differences are, and see if we can bring the higher (cost) performers to a point where they’re able to do it more cost effectively,” she added.
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“That’s how we are thinking about the use of AI in government, and we can apply that across the board in all of the services that we provide.”
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This change takes place as private industry, academics and governments are busy deploying AI to improve efficiency and increase productivity across an array of areas, while also understanding the challenges and limitation surrounding it.
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Meanwhile, the province has its eye on attracting data centres that are needed to run such technology, seeing it as an opportunity to bring in new investment and jobs.