AI for Us: Shaping AI in Toronto

Toronto is one of the biggest AI cities in the world.

A panel of people who know AI from very different angles, on what AI is doing to this city and what we want it to do instead. Work, money and meaning. Who gets to shape it, and who is left out. An honest conversation, not a sales pitch for the future.

Panelists

• Jerrold McGrath

  Cultural Programmer and Theorist, In the Meantime

  jerroldmcgrath.com

  Jerrold McGrath builds encounters with technological and ecological volatility through residencies, festivals, games, and multi-day programs people enter into rather than read about. He has spent eighteen years designing programs for energy companies, provincial governments, universities and national institutions, and since 2019 has worked on artificial intelligence: a national consultation held in every province and territory, and a year-long AI program funded by the Canada Council. His exhibition work has shown in Reykjavík, Toronto and Seoul. He runs In the Meantime and writes at Poor Footing.

• Joseph Wilson

  Anthropologist & Author of Humans of AI: Understanding the People Behind the Machines

  www.josephwilson.ca

  Joseph Wilson received his PhD in Anthropology from the University of Toronto. His ethnographic fieldwork took place at AI labs, conferences, and at a company that designed computer chips for AI networks. His research interests include linguistic and semiotic anthropology, science and technology studies, and public anthropology. He has written about technology, language, anthropology, and education for SAPIENS, American Scientist, Anthropology News, The Globe and Mail, CBC, and Spacing. His book Humans of AI: Understanding the People Behind the Machines was published by Aevo University of Toronto Press in 2026.

• Owais Lightwala

  Assistant Professor, Performance at The Creative School TMU, Director, Chrysalis

  owais.ca

  Owais Lightwala is a professor, entrepreneur, technologist, and optimist. He builds at the intersection of AI, arts, and entrepreneurship, and is an Assistant Professor at The Creative School at Toronto Metropolitan University, where he teaches innovation, entrepreneurship, and leadership in creative industries. He is currently working with Canadian Heritage on developing AI solutions for arts organizations.

Transcript

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