Events

Lesley Wilton presents at the Annual Independent School Summit 2024 in Toronto.

Isabel Pedersen, Delon Omrow, Shawna Longboat (Hamilton Regional Indian Centre), and Julius Kaka (The Global Initiative Network) will be presenting at the 24 hour Conference on Global Organized Crime 2024 (OC24).

The Digital Life Institute and Ontario Tech University proudly present an in-person research seminar and demonstration exploring the transformative impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on the music industry. What does the use of AI-powered tools say about human creativity and machine learning? Algorithms and data-driven platforms have changed the landscape of music production. The seminar […]

Andrew Iliadis presents at the 74th Annual ICA Conference in Gold Coast, Australia.

Isabel Pedersen speaks at the annual conference of the Canadian Society for the Study of Rhetoric (RhetCan 2024). This event is online and live at McGill University, Montreal: 2024 Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences.

Alyson E. King will present her research and chair two sessions at this conference in Gatineau, Quebec, Canada Day 2: May 22, 2024 So, now what do I do? Tips for dealing with academic misconduct. Alyson King, Ontario Tech University, Canada Day 3, May 23, 10h45-12h00 - Session Chair: Alyson King The curriculum dilemmas in fostering […]

What ethical frameworks for the quick evolution of artificial intelligence and biotechnology? Welcome to USP en conversation - SPU Talks! Join us for an engaging event where we bring together experts to discuss a wide range of topics. From ethics to art, from reconciliation to artificial intelligence, there is something for everyone. Prepare to listen, […]

Lesley Wilton presented at Applied Machine Learning Days (AMLD) 2024 sponsored by École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL). Her presentation, AI Literacy in the Education Field, can be viewed here. Lesley and also participated in a panel discussion titled Data and AI Literacy – Quo Vadis, which can be heard here.

Join us for our spring speakers forum hosted by Digital Life Institute and Trustworthy AI Lab! Historically, creativity has been judged according to its impact and ways that people moved other people’s thinking, challenged longstanding beliefs, or transformed a field. Artificial Intelligence has raised sensationalized debates concerning not only the question over its ability to […]

Ruth Falconer presents at SIRC 4150, North Campus, OntarioTech University,  and Virtual/Online.

Join the Artificial Intelligence Initiative on March 6th from 12:00-1:30 pm on Zoom for this semester's first speaker series event. Dr. Isabel Pedersen of the University of Ontario and the Director of the Digital Life Institute will discuss Al, education and changing cultural values.

Alvine Boaye Belle presents at UB 1055, North Campus, OntarioTech University. Talk description: Digital discrimination occurs when intelligent systems make automated decisions based on specific individual attributes (e.g., income, education, gender, and ethnicity) or when relying on biased data engineering practices. This may reinforce social inequities by supporting the automation of consequential and sometimes unfair […]

Daniel Hocutt, Ann Hill Duin, Jessica Lynn Campbell, and Mollie Stambler present. Autoethnography is a research method that draws from a variety of autobiographical data–such as memories, documents, ongoing self-reflections and observations–to explore and investigate social phenomena (Chang, 2016). Collaborative autoethnography (CAE) has multiple researchers use a multilayered approach to collecting data, performing ongoing self-reflection, […]

Panel Discussion: Andrew Iliadis, Francesca Tripodi, Aashka Dave, Leslie Kay Jones, Amelia Acker, Heather Ford This panel presents research on web and information infrastructures used for manipulative purposes. In contrast to platform manipulation (Woolley & Howard, 2018; Benkler et al., 2018), where users such as bad actors seek to gamify and exploit the weaknesses of […]

The launch of OpenAI’s ChatGPT was a popular event making generative artificial intelligence a mainstream phenomenon. Data journalist, Katharina Buchholz explains that “ChatGPT gained one million users just five days after launching in November” of 2022 (Statista, 2023). Generative AI can produce stylistically correct sentences, paragraphs, and documents across a multitude of genres (Duin and […]

Andrea Slane and Isabel Pedersen present Social Robots and Older People’s Conceptions of Agency and Autonomy in the Socio-technical Context of Current and Future Digital Consumer Technologies at the 2023 Annual Meeting of the Socio-gerontechnology Network. Click here for the program.

The music industry has seen countless advancements, especially within the last few decades. From the way music is produced and performed to cutting-edge technology, new business practices and accessibility, innovation in music is changing how we create, consume and experience music. Join Spark Series at Convergence on September 23rd for an exciting, in-depth panel discussion […]

Join us at the Decimal Lab on Sept 15th 2023, 1-3pm for a keynote and panel on the exciting and transformative synergy between Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the music industry. In this keynote, Ontario Tech University’s very own Delon Omrow (three-time Canadian Latin Grammy nominee, Top 100 Finalist for CBC's SearchLight Competition and two-time Oshawa […]

Ann Hill Duin, Isabel Pedersen, Jim Hall, Dan Card, and Lee-Ann Kastman Breuch discuss: OpenAI’s ChatGPT technology is now in use across academic and professional contexts, and co-writing content with AI is eclipsing older notions of AI assistantship. This panel re-envisions co-AI technical and professional writing amid this transformative AI writing landscape, inviting participants to […]

At Civic Tech Toronto, Isabel Pedersen speaks about ChatGPT and more advanced AI systems increasingly becoming embedded in augmentation technologies that enhance human capability or productivity. These technologies can add cognitive, physical, sensory, and emotional enhancements to the body or environment. How can we work toward more ethical designs for future tech through civic engagement and […]

Wendy Martin, Kirsten L. Ellison, Barbara L. Marshall and Isabel Pedersen present this conference paper at the The XX ISA World Congress of Sociology, Melbourne, Australia, June 25-July 1, 2023. The conference theme is Resurgent Authoritarianism: Sociology of New Entanglements of Religions, Politics, and Economies. The paper discusses how technologies for people ageing at home […]

Isabel Pedersen will discuss the social and ethical implications of recent AI developments such as ChatGPT for higher education. Following Dr. Pedersen’s talk, discussants, including Dr. Karleen Pendleton Jiménez, Acting Associate Dean, Trent Durham, Mitch Huguenin, Education Developer, Indigenous Pedagogy, and Dana Capell, Senior Education Developer, will offer remarks; time will also be reserved for […]

Andrea Slane and Isabel Pedersen will present at the Law and Society Annual conference at the Caribe Hilton in San Juan, Puerto Rico. A growing number of consumer technology companies are trying to convince older adults that having a humanoid AI powered device with interactive voice features is a helpful tool to support aging-in-place. The […]

Our Second Foundation working group presents "Ware" and Tear: Extensions/Extractions of The Mediated Self Ganaele Langlois (York University) and Isabel Pedersen (Ontario Tech University) join the Second Foundation working group at the Centre for Culture and Technology to consider and critique the role of media in regimes of extraction and affect in our daily lives. […]

This presentation demonstrates a human-centered design framework for creating content using generative AI tools. Dr. Jason Tham will show some human-in-the-loop methods to create AI writing prompts that take advantage of the natural language processing ability of AI while addressing ethical concerns. Light lunch and refreshments will be served.

  Clark Hall, UC, at 4:00pm

More and more, personal digital devices—from wearable brain-computers to digital skin tech to implanted computer chips—are being invented, adopted and even celebrated before we have a chance to understand their likely impact on our lives. The rise of Artificial Intelligence is accelerating this process. Dr. Isabel Pedersen explores how immersive embodied technology may change how […]

Augmentation technologies and the algorithms built within them represent the engine that drives the next generation of TPC networked learning. As emerging augmentation technologies, use of data analytics, and “smart” technologies proliferate, we see the critical need for research, presentation and discussion of the implications of augmentation technologies in TPC programs. This panel addresses critical conference themes: administering technologies in TPC programs and curriculum development.

Augmentation technologies include wearable devices that extend human senses, augment creative abilities, or overcome physical limitations; robots marketed to improve human social interaction; implantables that amplify intelligence or memory; programs or algorithms for affective computing; Internet of Bodies (IoB) and Internet of Things (IoT) for ambient interaction or surveillance with places/spaces; and Extended Reality technologies (XR), including Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR), that alter human interaction with people’s lived reality. As networked learning evolves amid these current and emerging technologies, TPC scholars must increase understanding of both the technologies and their socio-technical complexities.

Ann Duin and Isabel Pedersen present Tracing the Turn to Artificial Human and Human Teaming Human-AI Teaming: Cases and Considerations for Professional Communicators (IEEE Procomm)

Isabel Pedersen, Ann Hill Duin, Jason Tham, Nupoor Ranade, Daniel Hocutt and Gustav Verhulsdonck conduct a two part workshop on Artificial Intelligence and Technical Communication on June 6th and June 13th for Com&Tec Italy.

The Internet of Things explores the potential impacts of ongoing changes to the Internet of Things.

Negotiating networked learning relationships with augmentation technologies: Smart education, data analytics, and human-autonomy teaming

Two presentations consider “How ‘facts’ are ‘fed’ to a virtual assistant” and “Designing for love or sex: Understanding a sex robot creator’s vision”.

More and more, personal digital devices—from wearable brain-computers to digital skin tech to implanted computer chips—are being invented, adopted and even celebrated before we have a chance to understand their likely impact on our lives. The rise of Artificial Intelligence is accelerating this process. Pedersen explores how immersive embodied technology may change how we act, interact with others, participate in cultures, and understand our identities.

Pedersen, I. and Duin, A.H. present Defining a classification system for augmentation technology in socio-technical terms at the 2021 IEEE International Symposium on Technology and Society (ISTAS).

A panel presentation by Nupoor Ranade (George Mason U), Daniel Hocutt (U Richmond), Jason Tham (Texas Tech), and Gustav Verhulsdonck (Central Michigan U) moderated by Ann Hill Duin (Cluster Leader, Digital Life Institute, U of Minnesota), hosted by Isabel Pedersen (Director, Digital Life Institute, Ontario Tech U). Please email us at [email protected] and we will send […]