The Globe and Mail reports in its Wednesday edition that a group of 21 indigenous students from across Canada gathered at Mila, a Montreal-based research institute, on Monday. The Globe's Pippa Norman writes that they will spend the next six weeks learning about artificial intelligence, networking and pitching ideas on how AI can benefit indigenous communities. The program, titled Indigenous Pathfinders in AI, was developed by Mila in partnership with indigenous education charity Indspire, the largest non-governmental funder of indigenous postsecondary education in Canada. Mila's Lynnsey Chartrand said the Pathfinders program was established to build a community of AI professionals in Canada. She said it is one way to make sure first nations are not left behind in the burgeoning industry. Ms. Chartrand said, "If we don't figure out what we're going to do about it, understand it better, develop a baseline level of preparedness, then those decisions are going to be made for us." Indigenous people in Canada make up 5 per cent of the population, according to the 2021 census. Yet, a survey by industry association Tech and People Network found that indigenous people in Canada's tech sector make up less than 1 per cent.