Agriculture in the Classroom Canada is using A-I technology to inspire and encourage youth to consider a career in the agriculture and agri-food industry.

They launched a campaign called “I Am Ag” last week as part of Career Month in Canada.

Executive Director Mathieu Rouleau says the interactive AI tool is available online at Iamag.ca. He explained how the program works; a person takes a selfie within the platform, then the AI will take the selfie and put it on different attributes and different faces of attributes.

“Let’s say we’re logical, persuasive, out-doorsy, those are all different things, and then at the end it creates a little video saying that ‘I Am Ag’ and (it shows) your profession and your job. The goal is to really showcase the thousands of careers that there are in agriculture.” Rouleau said as an example of how to use the tool.

While the video is being produced, a list of career options is displayed, such as a veterinarian or an agronomist, which are linked to the attributes chosen before.

“We’re hoping the (ag) industry supports us,” he said.

The campaign launched at the Royal Agricultural Fair in Toronto last week, and Rouleau said a few people tried the AI video tool.

“They saw how easy and accessible it was and it was very interesting to see your face on different portraints generated,” Rouleau said. “There were a few teachers that were at our press conference and they were very excited to see that they were going to be able to…captivate the audience of youth, especially since young people are a lot on their phones, they like that tech-savvy stuff and tying in different careers.”

Rouleau encourages people who use the tool to share their results on social media with the hashtag #IAMAG.