How Immigration Laws & Stringent Visa Regulations Are Hampering AI Research

In a world where there is a shortage of skills in emerging technologies like artificial intelligence, fostering innovation through conference and research meet-ups is important. Global gatherings of AI/ML researchers and practitioners around the world illustrate the power of collaboration and cross-pollination of ideas. For example, at the recent World Artificial Intelligence Conference in China, more than half of the participants were from outside the country.  But, there have been instances where researchers were denied visas when they were invited for AI conferences abroad. At the 2018 NeurIPS Conference in Montreal, Canada, many Asian, Eastern European, and African invitees were unable to attend due to denied or delayed visa approvals. Invitees from Africa, in particular, were delaye