Querying AI

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Centre for the Study of Democratic Institutions

Symposium on Generative AI in research and society, including hands-on training, expert panels, and a public discussion on AI & democracy

Place of Many Trees (POMT),  Liu Institute for Global Issues

<h1></h1><h1>QUERYING AI: Symposium on Generative AI in Research and Society </h1><h2>October 27, 2023</h2><p>P﻿LEASE REGISTER SEPARATELY FOR THE TRAINING, WORKSHOP, AND KEYNOTE ADDRESS. YOU WILL HAVE THE OPTION TO CHOOSE YOUR SESSIONS WHEN YOU CLICK ON &#x27;GET TICKETS&#x27;.</p><p><strong>O﻿rganizers</strong>: </p><p><a href="https://democracy.ubc.ca" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Centre for the Study of Democratic Institutions (CSDI), UBC</a></p><p><a href="https://ccss.arts.ubc.ca/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Centre for Computational Social Sciences (CCSS), UBC</a></p><p><strong>P﻿artners: </strong></p><p><a href="https://publichumanities.ubc.ca/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Public Humanities Hub, UBC</a></p><p><a href="https://languagesciences.ubc.ca/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Language Sciences Institute, UBC</a></p><p><a href="https://caida.ubc.ca/caida-ubc-icics-centre-artificial-intelligence-decision-making-and-action" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">C﻿entre for Artificial Intelligence Decision-Making and Action (CAIDA), UBC</a></p><p><a href="https://digitaldemocracies.org/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Digital Democracies Institute (DDI), SFU </a></p><h2></h2><h2>Pre-Workshop Training</h2><h3>Working with AI for Humanities and Social Science Research: Python and R for Word Embeddings and Language Models</h3><h3><strong>Time</strong>: 1﻿1:00AM - 12:45PM</h3><h3><strong>Venue</strong>: A﻿NSO 207</h3><h3>(﻿Please note that the venue for the pre-workshop training has been changed to ANSO 207)</h3><p><em>Pre-workshop training is  intended for UBC students, staff and faculty.</em></p><p>This hands-on workshop will walk participants through using Python and R to train and explore word embeddings, one of the technologies behind large language models and generative AI. The goal of this workshop is to demystify some of the technical aspects of language models and to invite learners to start thinking about how these important tools are used in research and how they function in society. The primary corpus we will use consists of the 150 English-language novels made available by the .txtLab at McGill University, along with a supplemental model trained on the ECCO-TCP corpus of 2,350 eighteenth-century literary texts made available by Ryan Heuser. Participants will learn the conceptual basics of word embeddings, natural language processing, and language models, and how to implement a basic word embedding model to analyze gender stereotypes in 18th and 19th century literature. Some familiarity in R and/or Python is necessary to actively follow the tutorial, but participants who do not know R or Python will be able to follow along conceptually if desired.</p><p><strong>F﻿acilitator </strong></p><p><a href="https://economics.ubc.ca/profile/jonathan-graves/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer"><strong>J﻿onathan Graves</strong></a></p><p></p><h2>W﻿orkshop</h2><p><strong><em>This workshop includes two sessions. It is  intended for UBC students, staff and faculty.</em></strong></p><h3><strong>S﻿ession 1</strong>: How Can Humanities and Social Science Researchers Use Generative AI?</h3><h3><strong>Time: </strong>1﻿:30PM - 2:30 PM</h3><h3><strong>Venue:</strong> The xʷθəθiqətəm or Place of Many Trees, Liu Institute for Global issues </h3><p>The recent popularity of Generative AI is new, but the technologies behind these methods have been around for decades, and have long been used by social scientists and humanists for research and scholarship. This panel will briefly introduce three perspectives on using language models in social science and humanities research: a sociological perspective on measuring shared stereotypes in language, a political science perspective on using language models to simulate human samples, and a computer science perspective on how computers can improve our own scholarly productivity. We will then invite participants to share <em>how</em> they’re using these methods (or want to use them!) in their own research and <em>what</em> they would need (e.g., skills, infrastructure) to achieve their goals. No prior knowledge is required to join this discussion. We only ask participants to come with an open, curious mind and with their probing questions.</p><p><strong>Panelists:</strong></p><ul><li><a href="https://politicalscience.byu.edu/directory/ethan-busby" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer"><strong>Ethan Busby</strong></a> (Assistant Professor of Political Science, Brigham Young University) </li><li><a href="https://dwyoon.com/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer"><strong>Dongwook Yoon</strong></a><strong> </strong>(Associate Professor at the Department of Computer Science, UBC)</li><li><a href="https://sociology.ubc.ca/profile/laura-nelson/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer"><strong>Laura Nelson</strong></a><strong> (</strong>Director of the Centre for Computational Social Science, Assistant Professor of Sociology, UBC).</li></ul><h3></h3><h3><strong>S﻿ession 2</strong>: Dilemmas of Using Generative AI in the Academy</h3><h3><strong>Time</strong>: 2﻿:45PM - 4:00PM</h3><h3><strong>Venue</strong>: The xʷθəθiqətəm or Place of Many Trees, Liu Institute for Global issues </h3><p>Generative AI introduces both opportunities and dilemmas for researchers and universities. What legal issues arise from  using AI models trained on data that is often acquired without permission or compensation, possibly violating intellectual property rights? Can universities and scholars help push back the current political economy of AI, which advances private interests over public goods? How can AI systems be developed or critiqued in order to redress systemic marginalization and promote equity, inclusion and human rights? This session will tackle these and other questions, through insights from panelists with backgrounds in intellectual property law,  large language models for African languages, and digital technologies in literature and teaching. </p><p><strong>Panelists:</strong></p><ul><li><a href="https://linguistics.ubc.ca/profile/ife-adebara/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer"><strong>Ife Adebara</strong></a> (PhD candidate, Department of Linguistics, UBC)</li><li><a href="https://english.ubc.ca/profile/laurie-mcneill/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer"><strong>Laurie McNeill</strong></a><strong> </strong>(Associate Dean, Students; Professor of Teaching, Department of English Language and Literatures, UBC)</li><li><a href="https://allard.ubc.ca/about-us/our-people/graham-reynolds" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer"><strong>Graham Reynolds</strong></a> (Associate Dean, Research and International; Associate Professor, Peter A. Allard School of Law, UBC)</li><li><a href="https://sppga.ubc.ca/profile/chris-tenove/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer"><strong>Chris Tenove</strong></a><strong> </strong>(Interim Director, Centre for the Study of Democratic Institutions; Research Associate and Instructor, School of Public Policy &amp; Global Affairs, UBC) </li></ul><h2></h2><h2>Keynote Public Event </h2><h3>Can Democracy Survive AI?</h3><h3><strong>Time</strong>: 4﻿:30PM - 6:00 PM (Followed by Reception)</h3><h3><strong>Venue</strong>: The xʷθəθiqətəm or Place of Many Trees, Liu Institute for Global issues </h3><p>Recent progress in artificial intelligence has inspired fascination but also provoked panic. There are serious concerns that AI systems will greatly exacerbate the toxicity of our information systems, inequity of our economies, surveillance of our private lives, and polarization of our societies.  How might we understand and address these risks? Join Wendy Hui Kyong Chun and Fenwick McKelvey, two of Canada’s leading scholars of digital technology and politics, to discuss what researchers, policymakers and citizens can do to help ensure that democracy survives AI.</p><p><strong>Panelists:</strong></p><ul><li><a href="https://digitaldemocracies.org/people/people/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer"><strong>Wendy Hui Kyong Chun</strong> </a>(Canada 150 Research Chair in New Media; Director of the Digital Democracies Institute; Professor in the School of Communication, and  Simon Fraser University)</li><li><a href="https://www.concordia.ca/faculty/fenwick-mckelvey.html" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer"><strong>Fenwick McKelvey</strong> </a>(Co-Director of the Applied AI Institute; Associate Professor in Information and Communication Technology Policy, Concordia University)</li><li><strong>Moderator</strong>: <a href="https://sppga.ubc.ca/profile/chris-tenove/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer"><strong>Chris Tenove</strong></a><strong> </strong>(Interim Director, Centre for the Study of Democratic Institutions, UBC) </li></ul><p><strong>PLEASE REGISTER FOR EITHER IN-PERSON OR ONLINE</strong>. THE ZOOM LINK WILL ALSO BE SENT TO THOSE WHO REGISTER FOR THE IN-PERSON KEYNOTE ADDRESS INCASE YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES CHANGE. THE ZOOM LINK WILL BE SENT TO ALL REGISTRANTS 1-2 DAYS BEFORE THE EVENT. </p><p><strong>P﻿lease email us at csdi.democracy@ubc.ca if you have any queries or concerns. </strong></p>

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