Isabel Pedersen

Dr. Isabel Pedersen is the founding Director of the Digital Life Institute, an international research network of multidisciplinary scholars studying the social implications of emergent digital technologies, where she also leads the AI and Social Implications cluster. She is a Professor of Communication Studies at Ontario Tech University, specializing in the intersection of technological change and its cultural, ethical, and political implications. Dr. Pedersen’s research focuses on the lifecycle of technology—design, adoption, and adaptation—with a particular emphasis on Artificial Intelligence. Dr. Pedersen’s expertise has been recognized through influential roles, including serving on the Meta Reality Labs Policy Advisory Council, the IEEE Standards Association’s Global XR Ethics Working Group (P7030), and as a Canada Research Chair (2012-2022). Her recent co-authored books include Augmentation Technologies and Artificial Intelligence in Technical and Professional Communication: Designing Ethical Futures (Routledge, 2023) and Writing Futures: Collaborative, Algorithmic, Autonomous (Springer, 2021). Her work has appeared in leading journals such as AI and Society, Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence, Journal of Information, Communication and Ethics in Society, and Communication Design Quarterly.

Education

Ph.D. in English, Language and Literature, University of Waterloo
M.A. in English, Language and Professional Writing, University of Waterloo
B.A. in English, Trinity College, University of Toronto

Career

Leadership Positions
Ontario Tech University, Faculty of Social Science and Humanities
Canada Research Chair in Digital Life, Media, and Culture (2012 – 2022)
Director, Digital Life Institute (2020 – 2025)
Director of Decimal Lab (2012 – 2025)

Faculty Positions
Ontario Tech University, Faculty of Social Science and Humanities
Professor (2020 – 2025)
Associate Professor (2012 – 2020)
School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies, Graduate program affiliation in Computer Science, Faculty of Science

Appointed Yeates School of Graduate Studies, Toronto Metropolitan University, Joint Graduate Program in Communication & Culture, York University and Toronto Metropolitan University Associate Member (2012-2020)

Speaking Engagements

Dr. Pedersen has given invited national and international talks and keynotes, including for the Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences, Big Thinking on the Hill Lecture Series. She spoke at World Science Festival in New York, IEEE International Symposium on Technology and Society, Global Affairs Canada AI Symposium, IFA Summit Berlin, Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, the International Wearables Technologies Conference in Munich, The International Council on Education for Teaching (ICET) World Assembly, the Canadian Association of Journalists Annual Conference, The Walrus Talks, TEDx, and Spur Festival (Calgary and Toronto).

Publications

Pedersen, I. Generative AI, cultural adaptation, and postsecondary education. (July, 2024) The Open/Technology in Education, Society, and Scholarship Association Journal. 4(1), 1-19.

Pedersen, I. The Rise of Generative AI and Enculturating AI Writing in Postsecondary Education. Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence. Volume 6. 2023.

Duin, A. H. and Pedersen, I. Augmentation technologies and artificial intelligence in technical communication: Designing ethical futures. Routledge, Taylor & Francis, 2023.

Pedersen, I., & Iliadis, A. (Eds.) Embodied computing: Wearables, implantables, embeddables, ingestibles. Cambridge: MIT Press. 2020.

Isabel Pedersen, I., Networked bodies, AI, and our future digital lives, Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences, Big Thinking Lecture Series, 2020.