AI therapy chatbots promise accessible mental health support—but without proper oversight, they risk misleading users and causing harm. The Schwartz Reisman Institute’s new policy brief outlines how Canada can regulate these tools to protect public trust and ensure AI innovation truly serves human wellbeing.

From AI chatbots marketed as digital partners to voice assistants designed for intimacy, these systems promise connection while raising urgent questions about privacy, manipulation, and digital addiction.

At SRI’s annual conference, participants discussed future directions and key challenges in AI research, including the complexities of aligning advanced AI with human values and interdisciplinary perspectives on AI safety.

In April 2024, the Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society (SRI) hosted a workshop that brought together 33 high-level experts to explore the viability of regulatory markets. Over the course of the workshop, participants identified key challenges and worked through practical steps to move from theory to operationalization, laying the groundwork for a clear roadmap toward future governance. Their findings are captured in a new report (PDF) published today by SRI.

SRI Chair David Duvenaud’s op-ed in The Guardian explores the impact of AI on human relevance and suggests strategies for adapting to ensure we aren't outpaced in every area of society.

Can AI unlock the hidden rules of our DNA and revolutionize medicine? SRI Graduate Fellows Micaela Elisa Consens and Ben Li explore this question in a new commentary examining the potential of genomic language models to transform biomedical research.

The Schwartz Reisman Institute’s annual academic conference Absolutely Interdisciplinary returns for 2025 to explore interdisciplinary approaches to AI governance, risk and safety.

A new study by SRI Graduate Affiliate Michael Colacci sheds light on the frequency of biased outcomes when machine learning algorithms are used in healthcare contexts, advocating for more comprehensive and standardized approaches to evaluating bias in clinical AI.

Schmidt Sciences has named SRI Chair Roger Grosse and Faculty Affiliate Marzyeh Ghassemi to its 2024 cohort of AI2050 Fellows. The program funds senior researchers and early career scholars to address a wide range of global challenges in AI.

What opportunities and challenges are there for the use of AI in healthcare? At a recent SRI workshop, experts explored how AI is transforming Ontario's healthcare sector, highlighting its potential to improve care and exploring pressing challenges around patient involvement, health equity, and trustworthy implementation.

The size of language models significantly impacts their adoption and usage. SRI Policy researcher Jamie A. Sandhu explores how small models are making big impacts in the field of AI.

Griefbots are artificial intelligence programs designed to mimic deceased individuals by using their digital footprint. Griefbots raise significant concerns about data collection and implications to human dignity. This article explores the digital afterlife industry and the ethical and legal challenges it presents, including a consideration of health, privacy, and property laws in Canada.