Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society

Democracy rewired: Safeguarding democratic values in the age of AI — Schwartz Reisman Institute An essay series by the Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society. This series is authored by the policy team at the Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society at the University...

✨12 Days of SRI! Day 3✨

AI is reshaping the foundations of democracy. This year, SRI’s policy team examined how AI is transforming rights, governance, civic life, and sovereignty—and what it will take to ensure democratic values endure.

📘: srinstitute.utoronto.ca/democracy-re...

✨12 Days of SRI! Day 2✨

At this year’s Technophilosophy Soiree, scholars and community members explored one of AI’s most human questions: can we have genuine relationships with AI companions?

🎥 Watch: srinstitute.utoronto.ca/news/technop... @karinavold.bsky.social @uoftcompsci.bsky.social

✨12 Days of SRI! Day 1✨

2025 was a milestone year for Geoffrey Hinton!

Highlights included:

👑 Awarded the 2025 @qeprize.bsky.social Prize for Engineering: srinstitute.utoronto.ca/news/2025-hi...

📻 Featured on @weeklyshowpodcast.bsky.social with Jon Stewart : www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrK3...

🗳️ Today at 12:30 PM: @semrasevi.bsky.social vi (U of T / Munk School)

“Chatbot voting advice applications inform but seldom sway young unaligned voters.”

AI can teach voters—but can it persuade them?

🔗: www.eventbrite.ca/e/sri-semina...

#AI #Democracy #CivicTech #UofT

🗳️ This week in the fall SRI Seminar Series: @semrasevi.bsky.social (U of T / Munk School)

“Chatbot voting advice applications inform but seldom sway young unaligned voters.”

📅 Wed, Nov 26 | 12:30–2 PM (online)
🔗https://tinyurl.com/2zttdx6c

YouTube video by Schwartz Reisman Institute Lucy Suchman | Closed worlds and the constitutive outsides of artificial intelligence

📢 Week 7 of the fall SRI Seminar Series has arrived on VOD.

🗣️ Talk: Lucy Suchman, “Closed worlds and the constitutive outsides of artificial intelligence”

🎙️ Moderator: Sheila McIlraith, @uoftcompsci.bsky.social

📼 Watch the full recording here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_4-...

@mark-carney.bsky.social visited U of T, meeting with @vectorinstitute.ai and SRI researchers.

He highlighted Canada’s historic investment in AI development, oversight, and stewardship—and the need for all Canadians to “take care of each other.”

📷 with SRI Chair @davidduvenaud.bsky.social

Promotional image for the Schwartz Reisman Institute Fall 2025 Seminar Series featuring a photo of Peter Salib.

🔔 Week 6 of the fall SRI Seminar Series has arrived on VOD.

🗣️ Talk: Peter Salib (@uhlaw.bsky.social): AI rights for human safety

🎙️ Moderator: @theannasu.bsky.social, @uoftlaw.bsky.social

📼 Watch the full recording: youtu.be/ZPSQdskoA9Q?...

Therapy bots: Regulating the future of AI-enabled mental health support — Schwartz Reisman Institute AI therapy chatbots promise accessible mental health support—but without proper oversight, they risk misleading users and causing harm. The Schwartz Reisman Institute’s new policy brief outlines how C...

AI therapy bots are on the rise.

✅ Can lower barriers to care
❌ Can fail in moments of crisis

Our new brief outlines recommendations for how to close the regulatory gap before harm outweighs potential benefits.

srinstitute.utoronto.ca/news/2025-th...

In the age of smartphones, why do we feel more bored than ever? 🥱 In this episode of The Short Answer, #UofT professor Michael Inzlicht gives us advice on finding more effortful & meaningful interactions. uoft.me/bYO

The big picture of dangerous capability evaluations: David Duvenaud at the Seminar Series — Schwartz Reisman Institute How can we stay in control when AI systems surpass human intelligence? In a recent SRI Seminar, Schwartz Reisman Chair David Duvenaud explored the frontier of AI safety, alignment, and governance , i...

📢 ICYMI: “There will be systems much smarter than us that may not be aligned with us.” — David Duvenaud

Read our recap and watch the full SRI Seminar on dangerous capability evaluations, AI safety, and alignment: tinyurl.com/yj9bm5f4

#AI #AIsafety #Alignment #UofT @davidduvenaud.bsky.social

💡This week in the SRI Seminar Series: Lucy Suchman (Lancaster) — “Closed worlds and the constitutive outsides of artificial intelligence”

📆 Wed, Nov 5 - 12:30-2:00 PM ET | Free online 🔗
www.eventbrite.ca/e/sri-semina...

Moderator: Sheila McIlraith, @uoftcompsci.bsky.social

Promotional image for the SRI Seminar Series featuring a photograph of David Duvenaud.

📣 Week 5 of the fall SRI Seminar Series has arrived on VOD

SRI Chair @davidduvenaud.bsky.social (University of Toronto Department of Computer Science, @vectorinstitute.ai) for “The big picture of LLM dangerous capability evals.”

🎙️Moderator: Sheila McIlraith

📼 Watch here: youtu.be/zvIN7PnVuy4?...

SRI appoints Bruce Schneier as visiting senior policy fellow — Schwartz Reisman Institute Global security expert and author Bruce Schneier—known for reshaping how the world understands security, privacy, and trust—has joined the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs & P...

Global security expert Bruce Schneier joins SRI and the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy as a visiting senior policy fellow. His work on AI, trust, and governance will help shape how we build secure, human-centred technologies.

🔗 Read more: srinstitute.utoronto.ca/news/technop...

📣 Registration is OPEN for @uoft-tcairem.bsky.social 2025 Conference!
🗓️ Nov. 14, 2025 in #Toronto!
🎤 The Evolution of #GenerativeAI
💡 Panels, debates & talks with leading #AI & #medicine experts
🔗 www.eventbrite.ca/e/2025-t-cai...

#AIinMedicine #AI #HealthAI #MedTech #AIinHealthcare

Promotional image of SRI Seminar Series featuring a photo of Ryan Calo.

🖥️ Video of @rcalo.bsky.social's SRI Seminar Series talk is now online.

In “Law and technology: A methodical approach”, Calo explores how law can navigate the unique challenges posed by technology.

📼 Watch: www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFX1...

What does AI ethics look like beyond Silicon Valley? 🌏

Join Ishtiaque Ahmed (@uoftcompsci.bsky.social) as he explores how communities across the Global South shape—and challenge—the ethics of AI.

📅 Nov 12
🔗https://www.youtube.com/live/jLpOB2Q9KzI?si=15cL21POyOsRAEYI

@uoftethics.bsky.social

Day 1 of Who’s Afraid of AI? kicks off today at the University of Toronto. We’re proud to support this conference exploring the social, ethical, and creative implications of AI, featuring SRI Advisory Board member Geoffrey Hinton’s keynote.

toronto2025.ai

⏰Today in the fall SRI Seminar Series!

12:30-2:00 PM ET🔹Peter Salib (@uhlaw.bsky.social): AI rights for human safety

Moderator: @theannasu.bsky.social, @uoftlaw.bsky.social

Join live → www.eventbrite.ca/e/sri-semina...

It’s almost here. Who’s Afraid of AI? (Oct. 23–24 at the University of Toronto) will bring together a range of scholars, artists, and researchers for a rare interdisciplinary conversation about the futures of intelligence.

🔗Join the waitlist: tinyurl.com/bdjsdycm

📢 This week in the SRI Seminar Series: @petersalib.bsky.social on "AI rights for human safety"

📅 Wednesday, Oct 22 | 12:30 ET | Online

🎤 Moderator: @theannasu.bsky.social, @uoftlaw.bsky.social

🔗 www.eventbrite.ca/e/sri-semina...

Schwartz Reisman Institute Seminar Series promotional image featuring a photo of Anastasia Kuzminykh.

📼 Video of Anastasia Kuzminykh’s fall SRI Seminar Series session is now online!

💡 In “The power of discussion: Designing useful communication with AI agents”, Kuzminykh discusses the role of conversation architecture in supporting efficient human-AI collaboration.

▶️ Watch: youtu.be/fpL546QeAlE

SRI Seminar Series: David Duvenaud [HYBRID EVENT] Join us for a seminar featuring the University of Toronto's David Duvenaud on Wednesday, October 15th.

🗓️ Today at 12:30 PM ET! Join SRI Chair @davidduvenaud.bsky.social for “The big picture of LLM dangerous capability evals.”

This special seminar is co-hosted with @uoftcompsci.bsky.social’s C.C. “Kelly” Gotlieb Distinguished Lecture Series.

🔗 Register: www.eventbrite.ca/e/sri-semina...

YouTube video by Schwartz Reisman Institute Hamsa Bastani | Unpacking the unintended consequences of AI in education

Video of Hamsa Bastani’s fall SRI Seminar Series session is now online!

In “Unpacking the unintended consequences of AI in education”, Bastani shares the results from the first large-scale field experiment deploying generative AI tutors in high school math classrooms.

▶️ Watch: youtu.be/YjkfsKzoNJE

Promotional poster for the Schwartz Reisman Institute Seminar Series in partnership with the University of Toronto Department of Computer Science’s C.C. “Kelly” Gotlieb Distinguished Lecture Series. Event titled “The Big Picture of LLM Dangerous Capability Evals” by David Duvenaud, Schwartz Reisman Chair in Technology and Society, Associate Professor in Computer Science, Canada CIFAR AI Chair at the Vector Institute. The event takes place on October 15, 2025, from 12:30 to 2:00 p.m., offered in-person and virtually. URL: uoft.me/thebigpicture. Includes University of Toronto, Schwartz Reisman Institute, and Department of Computer Science logos, with a headshot of David Duvenaud in a circular frame on the right.

Associate Professor @davidduvenaud.bsky.social presents "The big picture of LLM dangerous capability evals" as part of the C.C. "Kelly" Gotlieb Distinguished Lecture Series, in partnership with the @torontosri.bsky.social Seminar Series.

Weds, Oct. 15, 12:30 PM ET
Register: uoft.me/bUg

SRI Advisory Board member Geoffrey Hinton appeared on The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart to discuss where AI stands—and where it might lead us.

“AI: What Could Go Wrong? with Geoffrey Hinton” is live now.

▶ Listen here 👇 link.chtbl.com/AIWhatCouldG...
@weeklyshowpodcast.bsky.social

Canada helped shape the AI revolution. Now it’s time to ask: how can AI serve humanity’s future?

SRI is a proud sponsor of Who’s Afraid of AI? (Oct. 23–24 at U of T), bringing the debate to centre stage.

Register 👉 bmolab.artsci.utoronto.ca?page_id=4423

SRI Seminar Series: Ryan Calo Join us for a seminar featuring the University of Washington's Ryan Calo on Wednesday, October 8th.

The fall SRI Seminar Series continues TODAY at 12:30 PM ET with @rcalo.bsky.social (@uwlaw.bsky.social).

"Law and technology — a methodical approach"

Join live → www.eventbrite.ca/e/sri-semina...

David Duvenaud reflects on post-AGI workshop — Schwartz Reisman Institute SRI Chair David Duvenaud shares reflections from the Post-AGI workshop, highlighting the value of diverse perspectives and the challenges of envisioning post-AGI trajectories.

What comes after AGI?

SRI Chair @davidduvenaud.bsky.social convened leading researchers & policymakers to explore possible futures beyond artificial general intelligence—and why no one yet has a plausible path where human interests remain protected.

tinyurl.com/yrs5cj79

@uoftcompsci.bsky.social

💡Up next in the fall SRI Seminar Series: @rcalo.bsky.social (@uwlaw.bsky.social) — “Law and technology: A methodical approach”

Wed, Oct 8 12:30 PM ET | Free online 🔗https://tinyurl.com/3rsnvcbc