The Dialogue on Technology Project (DoT)

DoT’s mission is to convene a sustained and nuanced societal dialogue between leaders, experts and community members around the social impacts of AI in British Columbia and Canada. It is one part of a set of efforts articulated in SFU's AI Strategy, developed to better understand how the university can research and utilize AI for the greater good of education, research, and society. 

The current public conversation around AI can be described as stuck between catastrophization (“we’re all going to die”) and tech-optimism (“this will solve all of our problems”). The hype and misinformation, the speed of change, and the absence of a coherent channel of conversation between technologists, policy makers, scientists, ethicists, social scientists, the business community and the public produces a potentially dangerous situation where gaps in understanding grow every day, making it nearly impossible to work out solutions for responsible use of AI. DoT intends to counteract this growing gap through targeted dialogue and public engagement.

In 2024/25, DoT will develop programming to engage both expert and public stakeholders around AI’s social impacts in BC and Canada. Our goals are:

• to foster evidence-based and well-grounded community participation and public-facing knowledge around AI and its social implications, including its interactions with other desirable policies and social directions (e.g. sustainability, equity and justice, energy independence, human security, etc.).
• to raise the sophistication and profile of this conversation in the political discourse, and support policy development by connecting research, civil society, and industry communities through targeted dialogue.

Upcoming Event:
Symposium on BC’s AI Future

DoT is the lead convenor for SFU’s flagship Symposium on BC’s AI Future, set to take place on December 5th, 2024. Stay tuned for more information to come.