A Montreal program is trying to help get more women working in artificial intelligence.

Twenty-eight women, mostly senior undergraduate students, began the six-week AI4Good summer lab on May 14.

Almost none of the participants have any experience with AI or machine learning, said Doina Precup, one of the program’s creators.

The program, now in its second year, aims to give participants the background and the confidence to continue in AI, whether that’s by studying it in graduate school, applying the technology in other areas or by starting a business, said Precup, a computer science professor at McGill University and the head of Google-affiliated AI company DeepMind’s Montreal lab.

In 2017, only 20 per cent of tech workers at Google were women, according to the company’s diversity report. Other large tech companies have reported similar numbers.

Read the full story at montrealgazette.com.