As part of the programming for the Department for the Study of Religion’s 50th anniversary, SRI co-hosted an interdisplinary panel of scholars working in the study of religion, history of science, media theory, and computer science to consider how the religious pasts of AI shape the foretelling of its future.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

In a new essay series, the policy team at the Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society examines AI’s impact on the values underpinning democratic societies and governance. The series explores how AI, if left unchecked, may impact democracy – offering both an opportunity to reaffirm democratic values and critically assess the role of AI governance and regulation.

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.

A recent hackathon and symposium co-sponsored by SRI and U of T's Data Sciences Institute explored new ways of using large language models responsibly, with students and faculty receiving training on how to design efficient, interdisciplinary solutions to promote responsible AI usage.

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.