The Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society has released its new strategic plan for 2021–2024, emphasizing the key objectives of promoting interdisciplinarity within U of T’s AI and society ecosystem, field-building, regulatory innovation, and AI for social good. Learn more about our plans for the future.

A new pilot program from U of T’s Department of Computer Science and the Schwartz Reisman Institute, led by Professors Sheila McIlraith and Diane Horton, will embed modules on ethics within undergraduate design courses, bringing greater attention for students on the social effects of technical systems.

SRI Director Gillian Hadfield and Vector Institute President and CEO Garth Gibson respond to the Ontario government’s new Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence (AI) Framework by articulating how to achieve fair and trustworthy AI while supporting robust investment in AI technologies.

The Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society announces a new partnership with the Toronto Creative Destruction Lab’s AI stream, which provides mentorship and support to start-ups commercializing technologies that enable and expand the ethical use of AI.

How are algorithms influencing the production and consumption of culture? A new white paper on AI, music recommendation, and cultural consumption released by the Schwartz Reisman Institute argues their impacts are profound and far-reaching.

Are you a U of T researcher who is passionate about ensuring new technologies are effective, safe, ethical, and fair? The Schwartz Reisman Institute welcomes faculty and graduate fellowship applications from U of T researchers from all academic disciplines spanning the sciences, social sciences, and humanities.

A proposed new tool aims to aggregate commercial data to enable a safe re-opening of Toronto’s Financial District. But the project raises questions around usability and privacy, as well as concerns about its value, risks, and feasibility. SRI reports on a Solutions Workshop with findings relevant to broader implications for data sharing and privacy.

AI governance is urgently needed to ensure that its benefits to humanity outweigh its risks of causing harm. AI governance can also help evolve our legal and regulatory systems so they do not impede innovation. “Innovating AI Governance: Bold Action and Novel Approaches” is an ongoing series of workshops developed by SRI in collaboration with the Rockefeller Foundation to address this problem.

“Views on Techno-Utopia” will bring together early career scholars in the sciences, social sciences, and humanities to follow the promises and perils of emerging technologies—particularly AI, platforms, and surveillance tech—through the lens of techno-utopianism. Learn more about the 2021 SRI Grad Workshop, including description, submission instructions, dates and deadlines, and more.

The Long Run Initiative convenes experts from across sectors to tackle contemporary challenges in economics, public policy, business, and society. The LRI’s board of governors is now joined by SRI Director Gillian K. Hadfield, a scholar of law and economics whose work on innovating legal markets and improving access to justice has had a seminal influence across academic disciplines.

David Duvenaud and Richard Zemel are recognized for their innovative AI research in areas that benefit society. The CIFAR AI Chairs program is a cornerstone of the CIFAR Pan-Canadian AI Strategy, established in 2017 to recruit the world’s leading AI researchers to Canada and retain existing talent. With today’s announcement, the number of CIFAR AI Chairs surpasses 100.

Privacy law reforms are cropping up around the globe, as data and new technologies become increasingly powerful, autonomous, and ubiquitous. What are the details of the proposed new legislation in Canada and others like it around the world? And what are the implications for citizens, technologists, businesses, and public policy? A new series explores these questions.