Events – Social Robot Futures

Upcoming: AI as the New Oil and Other Myths

Oct 17, 2023Oct 17, 2023

“The world’s most valuable resource is no longer oil, but data,” The Economist declared in 2017 in an article discussing how governments might regulate those “titans” of the 21st century global economy, Alphabet (Google), Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Microsoft. The idea that data, and AI more broadly, is the “new oil” and these companies the new “titans” of this lucrative “resource” is intriguing, but how credible is it?

Come to Teresa Heffernan’s talk, “AI as the New Oil and Other Myths,” to find out!

Where: McNally East Room 108, Saint Mary’s University, Halifax

When: Friday, October 20, 2023, 12:30-1:30 pm

This event is hosted by the School of the Environment, SMU.

[Image from The Economist, May 7, 2017]

Uncategorized

AI & Urban Planning Seminar

Apr 4, 2023

The School of Planning at Dalhousie University is hosting a panel discussion and workshop on April 11, 2023 to explore ways in which AI is transforming cities and shaping the future of urban life.

The panel, which is offered both virtually and in-person, will feature Alex Lougheed (City of Toronto) and Marietta Le (MIT Department of Urban Studies and Planning), with opening remarks by Teresa Heffernan (Saint Mary’s University, Halifax). They will consider the opportunities and challenges presented by AI, as well as some of the ethical and social implications of this rapidly changing technology.

Subsequently, participants can join an in-person workshop focused on how AI technologies are or may be used in urban design and management.

Event:

“Urban Artificial Intelligence (AI): Panel Discussion and Workshop” (Dalhousie Mplan Seminar Series 2023)

When:

Discussion Panel > 11:15 am to 12:15 pm (AST), Tuesday April 11, 2023. Virtual and in-person.

Workshop > 12:15 pm to 12:45 pm (AST), Tuesday April 11, 2023. In-person.

Where:

Virtual venue > Microsoft Teams webinar event. The link will be sent out one day before the event. RSVP required.

In-person venue > Richard Murray Design Building, Room 3105 at Dalhousie University (Halifax, NS). RSVP required.

More information: https://urbanplanning.studio/events/urban-ai

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Upcoming Lecture: The Mothers of AI?

Feb 2, 2023Feb 2, 2023

While the field of AI is full of “fathers”, “mothers” are noticeably absent. One of the only contenders is the nineteenth-century mathematician Ada Lovelace, who recognized that Babbage’s Analytical Engine, an early model of the computer, could not only crunch numbers but could also manipulate, according to rules, other symbols (for instance, musical notes or letters). For this brilliant insight, she has been recognized by some as the first computer programmer. However, she also pointed out that, although a useful tool, this hypothetical machine could never “create”. Alan Turing objected to her argument and the “fathering” metaphor and his “child machine” has since become ubiquitous in the field. Over seventy years later is it time to revive Lovelace’s insight?

Title: “The Mothers of AI? Alan Turing’s Response to Ada Lovelace”

Speaker: Teresa Heffernan (Saint Mary’s University, Halifax)

When: Thursday February 9, 2023

Time: 6 pm (CET), 1 pm (AST), 12 noon (EST)

Where: via ZOOM at https://uni-potsdam.zoom.us/j/69421923124, passcode: 90667269

In person: ZeM – Brandenburgisches Zentrum für Medienwissenschaften
Hermann-Elflein-Straße 18 14467 Potsdam

Please register to participate either on site or via livestream at mail@zem-brandenburg.de.

This event is hosted by the Brandenburgisches Zentrum für Medienwissenschaften (ZeM).

More information here.

Events

Lecture on AI and the (Post-) Apocalyptic Imaginary

Oct 18, 2022Jan 31, 2023

Starting November 8th, 2022, the Centre for Apocalyptic and Post-Apocalyptic Studies (CAPAS) at the University of Heidelberg will be live-streaming a series of weekly lectures that consider “end of the world” themes in artificial intelligence and climate change discourses, and Late Capitalist consumer culture, among other areas of interest.

Events

Misogynistic Algorithms Workshop

Jun 7, 2022Jan 31, 2023

“Misogynistic Algorithms,” a virtual workshop on June 9, 2022, promises to be a fascinating discussion on the cultural basis of the gender bias prevalent in the very coding of AI and robotics technologies.

Events

Cyborg Futures Edited Collection

Nov 18, 2020Jan 31, 2023

— Online discussion of new edited book

Join Dr. Teresa Heffernan this Thursday, November 19th (12 noon) for a lively online lunchtime discussion of Cyborg Futures: Cross-disciplinary Perspectives on Artificial Intelligence and Robotics. Edited by Dr. Heffernan, Cyborg Futures brings together perspectives from fields as diverse as evolutionary biology, sociology, literary theory, and robotics to critically examine the impacts of AI on our work, play, creative expressions, and social interactions.

Events

AI, the Immortality Industry, and the Ethics of Death

Oct 14, 2020Jan 31, 2023

This talk by Teresa Heffernan considers the far reaches of the multi-billion-dollar immortality industry and the money and power behind the scenes that fuels this fantasy science even as the planet teeters on the brink of collapse. After examining some contemporary fictions that challenge big tech and its paradoxical escalation of the end of all life even as it hankers after life without death in its relentless focus on a future that is always “future,” this talk then turns to archaeology and the future’s archaic longings.

Events

The Ethical Imagination: Humanities vs. AI

Sep 2, 2019Jan 31, 2023

— A forthcoming talk by Teresa Heffernan

The era of “disruptive” technologies has given way to an ethical quagmire. Biased algorithms, invasive facial recognition software, proprietary black boxes, the theft and monetization of personal data, and the proliferation of hate-spewing bots and deepfakes have undermined democracy. Killer robots and the automation of war have led to a new arms raise with Vladimir Putin declaring whoever leads in AI will rule the world.

Events

The Real Life ‘Ex Machina’ Is Here

Apr 23, 2019Jan 31, 2023

In an upcoming talk, Teresa Heffernan will present “The Real Life ‘Ex Machina’ Is Here: Restoring the Gap between Science and Fiction” at the Machine Agencies Speakers Series on Tuesday, April 23, 2019 from 3 to 5 pm. Milieux Institute for Arts, Culture and Technology, Concordia University, 1515 Rue Sainte-Catherine W. EV Building, 11.455. Montréal, Quebec. For more information: www.facebook.com/events/1001883676675274/

Events

Panel on the Social Implications of AI

Nov 7, 2018Jan 31, 2023

You are invited to join Teresa Heffernan (Saint Mary’s University), Ian Kerr (U of Ottawa), Fuyuki Kurasawa (York U) and Duncan MacIntosh (Dalhousie) for a panel discussion on “the potential social impacts of artificial intelligence and the role humanities and social sciences will play in identifying the legal, ethical and policy issues we should start considering today.”