At SRI’s annual academic conference, leading researchers from diverse fields came together to tackle the complexities of AI alignment and how to better understand the social impacts of data-driven technologies. 28 distinguished speakers presented new approaches and ideas to better understand how these technologies are impacting our world.

The Schwartz Reisman Institute’s annual academic conference will take place May 6–8, 2024, with select sessions taking place in the newly-completed Schwartz Reisman Innovation Campus located in the heart of Toronto’s Discovery District. Speakers include: Peter Railton, Harper Reed, Huili Chen, Ray Perrault, Gillian Hadfield, and more.

At Absolutely Interdisciplinary 2023, Richard Sutton discussed the future of AI systems and whether they should always be aligned with human values. In a wide-ranging discussion with Blaise Agüera y Arcas and Gillian Hadfield, Sutton argued that it may be desirable—and even necessary—for us to one day grant autonomy to advanced AI agents.

SRI Faculty Fellow William Cunningham and Joel Leibo of Google DeepMind presented their work on testing social cognitive theory using reinforcement learning at the Schwartz Reisman Institute’s conference Absolutely Interdisciplinary.

In a session at the Schwartz Reisman Institute’s annual academic conference, Richard Sutton (Amii) and Julia Haas (DeepMind) discussed the legacy of Sutton’s reward hypothesis and the interplay between rewards, decision-making, and moral cognition.

A new paper by Aparna Balagopalan, David Madras, David H. Yang, Dylan Hadfield-Menell, Gillian Hadfield, and Marzyeh Ghassemi describes how decisions made by machine learning models can be improved by labelling data that explicitly reflects value judgments.

Are you a scholar with a PhD in a computational discipline? The Schwartz Reisman Institute is hiring a new postdoctoral fellow to engage in a research program headed by Gillian Hadfield that will explore the phenomenon of human normativity and group coordination.

In a recent SRI Seminar, Faculty Fellow Syed Ishtiaque Ahmed demonstrated how the dominant model of AI ethics is insufficient to strengthen the voices of local communities in the Global South. Ahmed contends scholars should move away from “universal” notions of intelligence, and foster situated ethical practices that take into account local hopes, faith, and stories.

Absolutely Interdisciplinary 2021 brought together over 270 participants from around the world, to explore the theme of “Human and Machine Normativity: New Connections.” The conference brought together researchers working on similar questions from a variety of disciplines in order to map out new terrain for thinking about human and machine normativity.

Are you a scholar with a PhD in a computational discipline? The Schwartz Reisman Institute is hiring a new postdoctoral fellow to engage in a research program headed by Gillian Hadfield that will explore the phenomenon of human normativity and group coordination.

The SRI Seminar Series resumes this September, bringing together the Schwartz Reisman Institute’s research community and beyond for a robust exchange of ideas that advance scholarship at the intersection of technology and society. Seminars are held over Zoom on a weekly basis and are free and open to the public. Each session is led by a leading or emerging scholar and features extensive discussion.

Schwartz Reisman Director Gillian Hadfield argues that current approaches towards explainable AI are insufficient for users. What is needed instead is “justifiable AI” that can show how the decisions of an AI system are justifiable according the rules and norms of our society.