Picture Vancouver on a rainy evening in March. You're sitting in a coffee shop in Mount Pleasant, surrounded by artists, developers, and dreamers. To your left, someone's training an AI model on decades of street photography. To your right, a team is debugging quantum computing code. And in the corner, a group is debating whether AI can truly be conscious while their robot dog prototype wags its tail.

This isn't a scene from Silicon Valley. This is BC's AI story—and it's fundamentally different from anywhere else in the world.

While the tech giants are in an arms race for bigger models and faster processors, we're asking different questions. Questions that could only emerge in a place where wilderness meets wireframes, where artists collaborate with algorithms, and where the community matters more than the competition.

Our story starts with our strengths:

Think about what we've built here:
A world-class VFX industry that shapes how the world sees magic on screen.
A gaming sector that defines how stories become interactive.
Digital artists who push the boundaries of what's possible.
And now, we're applying that creative DNA to artificial intelligence.

But here's what makes us unique: We're not trying to be the next Silicon Valley. We're building something distinctly ours.

When SFU's Metacreation Lab trains AI on a lifetime of photography, they're not just processing pixels—they're teaching machines to dream in the language of human creativity. When VCS creates immersive experiences for the Vegas Sphere from their studio in Whistler, they're not just pushing technical boundaries—they're reimagining how stories can be told.

Our position is unique:

• We bridge time zones between Asia and Europe
• We attract global talent with our quality of life
• We blend cultures and perspectives
• We understand both technology and humanity

Story Beat: Last week, I watched an AI model trained on
thousands of Vancouver street photos start generating images
of rainy streets with a distinctly Vancouver feel. Not
because we programmed it to, but because it learned from
our perspective, our light, our way of seeing the world.

But here's the crucial part: We're at an inflection point. The tools are here. The talent is here. Our creative technology heritage gives us unique insight into how to use them. We understand both the technical capabilities and the human implications.

This isn't just about adopting AI—it's about adapting it. Bringing a distinctly BC perspective to its development:

• Environmental consciousness