*The Schwartz Reisman Institute’s annual academic conference returns for a wide range of stimulating discussions on how the next phase of AI development will transform our world. Join keynote speaker* ***Blaise Agüera y Arcas*** *(Google Research), panelists* ***Richard Sutton*** *(Amii),* ***N. Katherine Hayles*** *(Duke), and* ***William Cunningham*** *(University of Toronto), and more. Registration is now open.*

Interdisciplinary inquiry into AI and the sudden impact it is having on our collective future is more important now than ever. The Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society’s (SRI) annual academic conference, Absolutely Interdisciplinary, returns from June 20 to 22, 2023 to convene leading thinkers across a spectrum of fields to explore this critical juncture.

Now in its third year, Absolutely Interdisciplinary creates the conditions for unique interdisciplinary conversations at the forefront of contemporary research into AI and other powerful data-driven technologies. Participants will learn about emerging areas of research, as each session pairs scholars from different disciplines to address a common question and facilitate discussion.

“There are urgent challenges facing us at the intersection of technology and society,” says SRI’s Executive Director Monique Crichlow. “We aim to integrate insights from diverse fields to reframe current debates. Absolutely Interdisciplinary will demonstrate not only the range of research currently being conducted at SRI, but how the connections formed by the institute are generating new inspiration and approaches.”

The three-day conference consists of:

June 20: A special in-person event on “The Limits of AI,” organized by SRI’s graduate fellows (free registration).
June 21–22: Two days of expert panels held in person and broadcast online (paid registration, in-person space is extremely limited).

REGISTER NOW FOR ABSOLUTELY INTERDISCIPLINARY 2023

*Speakers at Absolutely Interdisciplinary 2023:* ***Blaise Agüera y Arcas*** *(Google Research),* ***William Cunningham*** *(University of Toronto),* ***Avi Goldfarb*** *(University of Toronto),* ***Julia Haas*** *(DeepMind),* ***Gillian Hadfield*** *(University of Toronto),* ***N. Katherine Hayles*** *(Duke University),* ***Joel Leibo*** *(DeepMind),* ***Nicolas Papernot*** *(University of Toronto),* ***Daniel Rock*** *(University of Pennsylvania),* ***Frank Rudzicz*** *(Dalhousie University, University of Toronto),* ***Avery Slater*** *(University of Toronto),* ***Richard Sutton*** *(Amii, University of Alberta).*

This year, SRI is pleased to welcome Google Research’s Blaise Agüera y Arcas as a keynote speaker. Agüera y Arcas is a VP and Fellow at Google Research who has been an active participant in cross-disciplinary dialogues about AI and ethics, fairness and bias, policy, and risk. In his keynote, Agüera y Arcas will explore AI and cognition as they relate to questions of norms, valuation, and sociality.

Panelists at Absolutely Interdisciplinary 2023 include reinforcement learning pioneer Richard S. Sutton, who will discuss the reward hypothesis, values, and incommensurability with philosopher of mind Julia Haas. The conference also welcomes William Cunnigham (psychology, University of Toronto), N. Katherine Hayles (literature, Duke University), Joel Leibo (computational neuroscience, DeepMind), Nicolas Papernot (University of Toronto), Daniel Rock (economics, University of Pennsylvania), Frank Rudzicz (computer science, Dalhousie University), and SRI Research Leads Avi Goldfarb and Avery Slater. Additional speakers will be announced soon.

“We’re convening an outstanding group of scholars from a wide range of disciplinary backgrounds including computer science, law, psychology, and philosophy,” says Gillian Hadfield, director and chair at the Schwartz Reisman Institute and professor of law and strategic management at the University of Toronto, who will moderate one of the conference sessions.

“We’re all on the same journey of thinking about these transformative technologies,” says Hadfield, “but I think our real challenge is presenting our thinking in ways that are accessible to people in other disciplines. The Schwartz Reisman Institute plays the vital role of providing the infrastructure for this type of collaboration.”

Absolutely Interdisciplinary begins on Tuesday June 20th with a one-day special session organized by SRI’s Graduate Fellows, “The Limits of AI,” which will be held exclusively in person at Rotman School of Management’s Desautels Hall. On June 21st and 22nd, the main conference sessions will take place at U of T’s Campbell Conference Centre, with opportunities for interaction and socialization in between. The event will also be broadcast as a webinar for online attendees.

Session topics at Absolutely Interdisciplinary 2023 include: using AI agents to test social cognitive theory, the impacts of generative AI systems on human creativity, the impacts of machine learning in the workplace, the reward hypothesis, and how large language models are transforming education. Sessions will pair thinkers from different academic arenas who are both working on a common research question, leading to conversations that transcend a narrow disciplinary focus to generate broad new insights.

Absolutely Interdisciplinary 2023 promises to be another landmark SRI event. Registration is now open for both in-person and online attendance. For any questions, accessibility concerns, or media inquiries, please contact the SRI events team.

REGISTER NOW