Is AI hype, hyper, or over-hyped in Canada? Ten years ago, Canadian researchers set global AI research toward deep learning approaches to AI. Or so the story goes. Governments across Canada invested in AI as a national technology. The federal government launched its Pan-Canadian AI Strategy in 2018. Now, two years after once-Canadian unicorn Element AI sold for significantly less than once valued, we wish to support the emerging generation of scholars questioning, studying, and experimenting with AI.

Over two days, we hope to gather graduate students across Canada to critically discuss artificial intelligence and their research. Our symposium is guided by a desire to:

• convene critical researchers studying in Canada;
• support graduate research in-progress and imperfect; and
• develop a community of care and support for this research.

Our objective is to accept all submission and develop a form that ensure fair, supportive participation. We encourage work-in-progress, research at all level, and all stages. As host, we will share guidelines for moderation before the event and facilitate constructive discussion. The world can feel a little stressful and we hope this conference might be something different.

Please complete the following form for information to attend the symposium. Participation can either be in person or virtually.

This student symposium is supported in part by funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and Chaire de recherche du Canada sur les nouveaux environnements numériques et l’intermédiation culturelle.

The event is hosted at the Milieux Institute at Concordia University by the Machine Agencies Research Group.