AI Beyond Tech: A Conversation with the Privacy Commissioner of Canada

Artificial intelligence is usually discussed as a story about data centres, chips and models. But its effects reach well beyond tech, into how we govern, learn, stay healthy, protect our privacy and take part in democracy. To offer perspectives that are too often missing from AI debates, Season 8 of Wonks and War Rooms brings researchers from the social sciences, humanities, law and health sciences into the AI conversation.

For this finale episode, Dr. Elizabeth Dubois will be joined by the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, Philippe Dufresne and draw on recent cases to explore how AI is reshaping privacy, how enforcement and platform governance could keep pace, and where privacy law ends and election, criminal and online harms law begin.

In a second part, Dr. Dubois will be joined by past guests to draw out the overlaps, contradictions and opportunities across disciplines, and to ask what better AI policy could look like as Canada develops its national AI strategy.

The conversation will be recorded and released as the final episode of Season 8.

This event is organized with support from the Faculty of Arts, the Office of the Vice President Research and Innovation, and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

About the speakers

Philippe Dufresne is the Privacy Commissioner of Canada since June 27, 2022. A leading legal expert on human rights, administrative and constitutional law, he previously served as the Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel of the House of Commons. In this capacity, he was the chief legal officer of the House of Commons and led the office responsible for the provision of legal and legislative drafting services to the House of Commons, its Speaker, Members and committees, the Board of Internal Economy and the House Administration.

In conversation with

Dr. Elizabeth Dubois is an Associate Professor and University Research Chair in Politics, Communication and Technology at the University of Ottawa where she runs the Pol Comm Tech Lab and is a member of the Centre for Law, Technology and Society. She is also a Faculty Associate and former Fellow at the Berkman-Klein Center at Harvard University. Her work examines political uses of digital media, including artificial intelligence, political social media influencers, and online harassment of public figures. She hosts the Wonks and War Rooms podcast where political communication theory meets on the ground strategy.