AI is poised to impact the political process in profound ways. How do we navigate this uncharted territory? Hosts Beth Coleman and Rahul Krishnan are joined by experts Peter Loewen and Harper Reed to unravel the potential influence of AI on democracy and the spread of misinformation.
About the hosts:
Beth Coleman is an associate professor at U of T Mississauga’s Institute of Communication, Culture, Information and Technology and the Faculty of Information. She is also a research lead on AI policy and praxis at the Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society. Coleman authored Reality Was Whatever Happened: Octavia Butler AI and Other Possible Worlds using art and generative AI.
Rahul Krishnan is an assistant professor in U of T’s department of computer science in the Faculty of Arts & Science and the department of laboratory medicine and pathobiology in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine. He is a Canada CIFAR Chair at the Vector Institute, a faculty affiliate at the Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society and a faculty member at the Temerty Centre for AI Research and Education in Medicine (T-CAIREM).
About the guests:
Peter Loewen is the director of U of T’s Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy and a professor in the department of political science in the Faculty of Arts & Science. He is also the associate director of the Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society. His research focuses on how politicians can make better decisions, how citizens can make better choices and how governments can address the disruption of technology and harness its opportunities.
Harper Reed is a technologist who served as a chief technology officer for Barack Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign. Reed has pioneered crowdsourcing at Threadless.com, founded Modest Inc. and guided the software team at PayPal. His most recent venture was General Galactic Corporation.
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AI is poised to impact the political process in profound ways. How do we navigate this uncharted territory? Hosts Beth Coleman and Rahul Krishnan are joined by experts Peter Loewen and Harper Reed to unravel the potential influence of AI on democracy and the spread of misinformation.
About the hosts:
Beth Coleman is an associate professor at U of T Mississauga’s Institute of Communication, Culture, Information and Technology and the Faculty of Information. She is also a research lead on AI policy and praxis at the Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society. Coleman authored Reality Was Whatever Happened: Octavia Butler AI and Other Possible Worlds using art and generative AI.
Rahul Krishnan is an assistant professor in U of T’s department of computer science in the Faculty of Arts & Science and the department of laboratory medicine and pathobiology in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine. He is a Canada CIFAR Chair at the Vector Institute, a faculty affiliate at the Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society and a faculty member at the Temerty Centre for AI Research and Education in Medicine (T-CAIREM).
About the guests:
Peter Loewen is the director of U of T’s Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy and a professor in the department of political science in the Faculty of Arts & Science. He is also the associate director of the Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society. His research focuses on how politicians can make better decisions, how citizens can make better choices and how governments can address the disruption of technology and harness its opportunities.
Harper Reed is a technologist who served as a chief technology officer for Barack Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign. Reed has pioneered crowdsourcing at Threadless.com, founded Modest Inc. and guided the software team at PayPal. His most recent venture was General Galactic Corporation.
The New Normal with Maydianne Andrade (Ep. 18): One Year Later
University of Toronto
9 minutes 43 seconds
4 years ago
The New Normal with Maydianne Andrade (Ep. 18): One Year Later
For some, it was the last time they remember hugging a friend or a colleague, the last time they were with a class, in a crowd or with a group, the last time they took public transit without thinking about risk.
In episode 18 of The New Normal podcast, University of Toronto students, alumni and faculty talk with host Maydianne Andrade about the moment they realized COVID-19 had changed their world – and what they’re most looking forward to when the pandemic ends.
“On Friday, March 13th of 2020, I was working in the emergency department and we were overflowing with people – mostly travellers returning and needing or wanting to get tested for COVID,” recalls Erin Bearss, a professor in U of T’s department of family and community medicine in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine and a staff physician in family health medicine and emergency medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital.
“I recruited some of my residents to come and help with the swabbing and the overflow, which then led to subsequently the development of a COVID assessment center at Mount Sinai, which has continued to run over the past year.”
Recent grad Isheeta Chakrabarti was in Robarts Library.
“I was streaming the basketball game,” Chakrabarti recalls. “And suddenly we got a notification saying one of the players had caught COVID.”
Andrade, a professor at U of T Scarborough and Canada Research Chair in Integrative Behavioural Ecology, describes life one year later as one in which “hope and longing” are intertwined.
What, she asks, are people most looking forward to in the future?
“Post-pandemic, I'm most looking forward to just being able to see and hug my grandparents, family and close friends again,” says undergraduate student Abhay Singh Sachal.
“The thing I'm most looking forward to is going back home to Alberta and hugging my whole family as soon as I can,” says second-year internal medicine resident Nikita-Kiran Singh.
For Professor Joseph Wong, interim vice-president, international, visiting with family also tops the list – but “second thing is, I can't wait to be at a Toronto Raptors game again in the Scotiabank Arena and to be in that live audience and just going crazy.”
The New Normal is created in collaboration with a University of Toronto Communications team led by Lisa Lightbourn. You can listen to the podcast on Spotify or listen on SoundCloud. You can also find it on Apple or listen on Google.
University of Toronto
AI is poised to impact the political process in profound ways. How do we navigate this uncharted territory? Hosts Beth Coleman and Rahul Krishnan are joined by experts Peter Loewen and Harper Reed to unravel the potential influence of AI on democracy and the spread of misinformation.
About the hosts:
Beth Coleman is an associate professor at U of T Mississauga’s Institute of Communication, Culture, Information and Technology and the Faculty of Information. She is also a research lead on AI policy and praxis at the Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society. Coleman authored Reality Was Whatever Happened: Octavia Butler AI and Other Possible Worlds using art and generative AI.
Rahul Krishnan is an assistant professor in U of T’s department of computer science in the Faculty of Arts & Science and the department of laboratory medicine and pathobiology in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine. He is a Canada CIFAR Chair at the Vector Institute, a faculty affiliate at the Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society and a faculty member at the Temerty Centre for AI Research and Education in Medicine (T-CAIREM).
About the guests:
Peter Loewen is the director of U of T’s Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy and a professor in the department of political science in the Faculty of Arts & Science. He is also the associate director of the Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society. His research focuses on how politicians can make better decisions, how citizens can make better choices and how governments can address the disruption of technology and harness its opportunities.
Harper Reed is a technologist who served as a chief technology officer for Barack Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign. Reed has pioneered crowdsourcing at Threadless.com, founded Modest Inc. and guided the software team at PayPal. His most recent venture was General Galactic Corporation.
