Math tutoring at your fingertips
Waterloo-based startup combines artificial intelligence with instant messaging apps to help university students with tough math problems
WATERLOO — When first-year math students need help with a problem they can snap a photo of the problem and send it to YourIKA.
The Waterloo startup combines artificial intelligence and instant messaging to provide first-year math students at five Ontario universities with near-instant access to expert tutoring. It is real-time help that breaks new ground in artificial intelligence. The software also prompts a human tutor to get involved.
“We have some of the most world-renowned artificial intelligence experts on our team,” said Rob Henderson, one of the startup’s founders and its chief executive officer.
The other founders are chief technology officer Shady Shehata and chief scientist Fakhri Karray. Shehata worked for 10 years at D2L, the Kitchener-based online learning company that has customers around the world. Karray is the co-director of the University of Waterloo’s Artificial Intelligence Institute.
YourIKA’s software is being tested at the University of Waterloo, Wilfrid Laurier University, the University of Guelph and the two campuses of the University of Toronto. Students who register with the YourIKA site and use Messenger can use the software at no cost. Scotiabank is covering the cost.
The platform will soon be integrated with other instant messaging apps. Henderson wants to see it launched across North America by the end of this year.
YourIKA uses all areas of artificial intelligence — machine learning, deep learning, neural networks and natural language processing. Until now, AI systems needed massive amounts of data to learn pattern recognition.
YourIKA says its breakthrough is developing an AI system that uses 90 per cent less data than other systems.
Shehata said that was done by separating the AI system into two parts, one for the math content and the other for natural language processing, which is far more complex and difficult.
“The conversation data is the teaching side that makes sure the students learn about the topic,” he said. “We are providing this content in a human-friendly way.”
Shehata calls YourIKA’s platform “content agnostic,” which means it can be used with any teaching material, not just first-year math. Put another way, the curriculum is separated from the language processing.
This is what excites Henderson the most about the startup — the possibility of bringing real-time tutors to students anywhere in the world where there is instant messaging.
“Right now, it is focused on first-year math for university and college students, but we are talking to other partners about converting their content into an IKA, an intelligent knowledge assistant, to start teaching other content,” said Henderson.
YourIKA is based in the Accelerator Centre in the David Johnston Research and Technology Park in Waterloo. That location is ideal, said Henderson, because UW’s Institute for Artificial Intelligence is almost next door. YourIKA employs three people with PhDs in artificial intelligence.
“We are pushing the boundaries of artificial intelligence because we have some of the world’s greatest experts,” said Henderson. “We are in new areas of artificial intelligence. Less reliance on data means you can provide more intelligent systems, so it is a pretty big deal.”
The algorithms used by YourIKA’s neural networks mimic the way a human brain processes and answers questions. The startup has patents on this technology and close links with the university.
“The main scientists working at YourIKA have graduated from the University of Waterloo,” said Karray. “This type of synergy provides students with future possibilities as the company grows.”