WHAT’S HAPPENING
Here’s what we’re thinking about, talking about, and working on at the Schwartz Reisman Institute.
Research led by Nicolas Papernot shows that AI worm could target any online device
A team of researchers at the University of Toronto, including SRI Faculty Affiliate Nicolas Papernot, has discovered a new class of cyberthreat that gives hackers more power and reach at far less cost. It can be built with free AI models.
Schwartz Reisman Institute announces 2026–27 graduate fellows
The Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society is pleased to announce its cohort of 2026–27 graduate fellows, bringing together fifteen exceptional U of T researchers exploring the societal implications of AI and emerging technologies.
Absolutely Interdisciplinary 2026 explores AI’s social, cognitive, and political dimensions
SRI’s annual conference explored how increasingly capable AI systems are reshaping public discourse, institutional trust, and the boundaries between technical systems and social life.
Can chatbots help close the youth voting knowledge gap?
Can AI-powered chatbots help young voters better understand politics? SRI Faculty Fellow Semra Sevi and her colleagues tested an interactive voting advice chatbot with nearly 2,900 politically unaffiliated voters under 35—and found significant gains in political knowledge, even if party loyalty remained unchanged.
The Mythos question: Who decides when AI is too dangerous?
Last week, Anthropic pulled back the curtain on Claude Mythos Preview, an AI model so capable at finding and exploiting software vulnerabilities that the company decided it was too dangerous to release to the public. In a new op-ed, SRI Director David Lie and Visiting Fellow Bruce Schneier discuss the implications.
Karen Hao explores power, accountability, and the future of AI
As part of the CBC Ideas series, the Schwartz Reisman Institute welcomed journalist Karen Hao to the University of Toronto to discuss the political economy of AI development, the need for stronger accountability, and the importance of building alternative, less resource-intensive approaches to AI systems.
Understanding the people behind the machines
In his new book Humans of AI, anthropologist Joseph Wilson draws on extensive fieldwork to show how artificial intelligence is not inevitable or autonomous, but built, shaped, and sustained by the people behind the machines.
Absolutely Interdisciplinary 2026 explores AI’s expanding role across society
The Schwartz Reisman Institute’s annual academic conference Absolutely Interdisciplinary explores interdisciplinary approaches to AI governance, risk, and safety on May 13, 2026, at U of T’s Schwartz Reisman Innovation Campus. Registration is now open.
When the algorithm is wrong: A new partnership calls out racism in AI systems
A new partnership co-led by Karina Vold is confronting racism in AI systems—highlighting how tools like facial recognition and LLMs disproportionately harm Black and racialized communities, and calling for greater public awareness and equitable governance of AI in Canada.
Rethinking knowledge in the age of AI
SRI Faculty Affiliate Paolo Granata reflects on his new book Generative Knowledge: Think, Learn, Create with AI, rethinking how artificial intelligence reshapes learning, research, and creativity by positioning AI as a co-creative partner in intellectual life rather than merely a tool for automation.
Beyond algorithms: Travis LaCroix on AI and the value alignment problem
SRI Faculty Affiliate Travis LaCroix explores the social and political dimensions of AI ethics in his new book Artificial Intelligence and the Value Alignment Problem, arguing that meaningful alignment requires confronting questions of power, justice, and whose values shape emerging technologies.
Geoffrey Hinton and Jeff Dean in conversation: Recorded live at NeurIPS
A new Radical Talks podcast episode features Geoffrey Hinton and Google Chief Scientist Jeff Dean in a live conversation recorded at NeurIPS 2025, reflecting on the past, present, and future of artificial intelligence—alongside the announcement of the new Hinton Chair at the University of Toronto.
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