Is This Small Town Really America’s Cradle of AI?
AI developers build an innovative community and prepare the next generation of AI gurus.
You ready for a pop quiz? It’s healthy to challenge your brain, so go with me. Which US city is quickly becoming known as the cradle of civilization for artificial intelligence and robotics? I sprang this on you suddenly so here are a few hints:
- This city was the first municipality to pass laws which protect robots as if they are people. If you steal a robot, you’ll be charged with kidnapping. If you kick a bot, you’re guilty of assault.
- This community is home to the man who pioneered private space travel, the man who built the world’s first robotic arm, and the man who invented electronic trading for the stock market.
- This place hosts sabbaticals for the leading robotics and AI professors in the world.
- Their tech summits attract the most decorated AI experts in the world.
- They open their arms to anyone who is truly an expert in robotics and AI by providing them with a free house and car during their stay.
- This city hosts technology festivals — huge parties complete with underground AI master minds, locked door think tanks with 50 of the brightest minds in AI, drone races, virtual reality goggles available to the public, hologram experiences, and self driving cars available for test drives.
- This place is home to the chatbot company that currently serves the United States Army.
Did you guess San Francisco? Wrong answer. Seattle? Nope. LA? Not close! NYC? Try again.
Ok, ok. I’ll just tell you. The city that boasts the kick-butt accolades listed above is…Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.
Yes, you read that correctly. You probably have your phone out now, hurriedly Googling “Coeur d’Alene.” I’ll save you the finger stress. Just keep reading.
Coeur d’Alene (aka “CDA” if you’re a local) is located in northern Idaho, about 40 minutes from Spokane, Washington. Its population is 40,000 people strong, and it’s largest industries are tourism, real estate and healthcare.
The quality of life doesn’t suck either. CDA is described as having a “reasonably priced cost of living” with easy access to killer recreational activities. The whole city is laid on the shores of a gorgeous mountain lake.
Prior to 2014, it seemed like CDA’s destiny was set — be a tourism driven town with a growing population of retirees. Its luck changed when Nick Smoot, a CDA native son who left to make his way in the world, returned home in 2014.
Smoot has a colorful background. It includes the founding, operation and sale of three tech companies and stints of living in Hawaii, Philadelphia, Seattle and Los Angeles.
After moving back to his beloved hometown in 2013, Smoot was lonesome for the startup communities he’d left behind. Being a motivated guy, he decided to do an experiment. He called his idea the “Innovation Collective.” It began as a series of six events, called The Fireside Chats. The concept was straightforward. Smoot interviewed successful entrepreneurs from the community and invited others to listen and learn.
What does the future look like for the picturesque mountain oasis? For starters, let’s talk about the 600 kids who are involved in robotics clubs in CDA. Let’s acknowledge the local university, which is constantly working with industry leaders to develop better education around robotics, programming and AI. Let’s give consideration to the growing number of attendees at the ThinkBig festival, and the crazy cool speakers and mentors being plugged into the community.
The response was tremendous, and the series revealed a need in CDA. Locals were eager to make, create and do, but they needed resources and support. Soon the Innovation Collective became the CDA entrepreneurs’ haven to share ideas and talk “nonsense.” Smoot saw that CDA’s entrepreneurial crew was gaining momentum, but to cause real change, the whole city needed a new economic brand to get behind.
“Small towns like CDA have to specialize in specific technologies, because if we try and reproduce San Francisco, Seattle or New York City, we will fail. Those places weren’t intentionally crafted economies. They were just first to market in new technologies so everyone went there,” says Smoot.
The Innovation Collective rallied community support behind a new economic brand — one that linked CDA’s deep history in manufacturing and the exponential technologies of robotics and AI. They successfully campaigned for the passing of laws that encourage the testing of robots and helped CDA residents view bots as normal and helpful.
“We’re the first municipality in the universe to pass laws that protect robots on public property. They officially have rights. They can operate freely and autonomously on public lands. You need to treat them as if they’re a citizen, and the robots need to behave as if they’re citizens,” explains Smoot. “There’s more people here talking about robots than anywhere else in the world. Period.”
A New Perspective
Ryan Bones is gregarious, bearded and not originally from Idaho. He doesn’t work in tech. He’s a chiropractor. I wanted to know what the CDA artificial intelligence revolution felt like to someone who wasn’t trying to build a bot or launch new software. I asked him to explain to me in layman’s terms what’s going on in Coeur d’Alene.
“It’s a combination of the bot-friendly laws of the city and the atmosphere that Nick has created through the Innovation Collective. It’s a community awareness of robotics and AI, and a community appreciation of robotics and AI. The townspeople are starting to take pride in the reputation we’re building,” says Bones.
“As a millennial, I’ve always been a quick adopter of new tech and been comfortable with the next big thing. I think that AI is the next big thing.”
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Every Wednesday, Innovation Collective hosts “Coffee and Concepts.” Bones describes it as a live episode of Popular Science, and he attends every week. In his opinion, “It’s just going to go up from here.”
The Innovation Collective has purchased and is renovating an old Elks Club building that was vacant for decades. When it’s finished, it’ll become the Northwest’s premier hub of robotics and AI action.
“I was fortunate that I happened to find myself in a community where technology is so valued…More people in CDA are aware of AI and robotics because of the exposure that this tech has consistently received in our city,” says Bones.
“The more you’re exposed to drones and holograms and AI, the less shocking it becomes when you hear about chatbots being launched for shopping. Having that environment and experience here in CDA, I would say has a huge factor in increased success of new technologies.”
What does the future look like for the picturesque mountain oasis? For starters, let’s talk about the 600 kids who are involved in robotics clubs in CDA. Let’s acknowledge the local university, which is constantly working with industry leaders to develop better education around robotics, programming and AI. Let’s give consideration to the growing number of attendees at the ThinkBig festival, and the crazy cool speakers and mentors being plugged into the community.
From a business development standpoint, we need to acknowledge companies like Itron, a utilities data company with over 150 million data centers on homes in the United States. This data powerhouse is working with CDA engineers to bring to market a chatbot for your utilities experience. Imagine messaging your utilities bot and telling it to check in with you when you’ve used a certain amount of water or electricity. That tech is in development now.
If you’re curious about the robotics and AI scene in Coeur d’Alene, get plugged in through the Innovation Collective’s online community at www.InnovationCollective.xyz or www.innovatecda.com/online. The ThinkBig Festival happens at the end of August. You can also attend an Innovation Collective Summit throughout the year or watch them online.
What do you think? Can a city of 40,000 people in Northern Idaho actually be the most fertile ground in the world for AI growth? Are you curious enough to visit CDA and check it out for yourself? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.
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