Publications and Events

Report for 2021 ACM FAccT CRAFT: Civic Empowerment in the Development and Deployment of AI Systems 

June 30, 2021

The “Civic Empowerment in the Development and Deployment of AI Systems” report from our 2021 Critiquing and Rethinking Accountability, Fairness and Transparency (CRAFT) workshop at ACM’s Fairness, Accountability and Transparency (FAccT) on March 5, 2021 provided attendees with information on what constitutes meaningful civic empowerment in AI systems’ development and deployment. The workshop offered a primer on participatory theory from the social sciences and had speakers from nonprofits discuss the role of tech-enabled community activism and consider political power dynamics in using tech to influence AI development and policy.

Presentation at the AAG GeoEthics Series: Does GeoAI Promise an Ethical Future for Spatial Analytics?

February 8, 2022

Dr. Renée Sieber presented her talk, “GeoAI for the Rest of Us” at the AAG (American Association of Geographers) GeoEthics Series:  “Does GeoAI Promise an Ethical Future for Spatial Analytics?”

Panel at AI in the City Symposium: Public Trust and AI 

February 10, 2022

Panelists discussed how trust can be built from a gender perspective using a feminist framing, the role of multistakeholder engagement model, the relationship between trust in technologies and trust in the state, and the responsibilities of public institutions in collective action: how to hold them accountable, and how this works from a global and local context. Here is the panel session recording.

Collaborator Bianca Wylie joined the session as a panelist alongside Chenai Chair, Michael (Miko) Canares, Nanjira Sambuli, and Renata Avila; Ana Brandusescu co-moderated with Dr. Jess Reia.

Panel at AI in the City Symposium: Meaningful Civic Engagement with Data and AI 

February 10, 2022

Panelists discussed social movements and community organizations, approaches to civic participation in AI and what they mean for increasing government accountability and regulatory power, as well as what we can learn from Indigenous perspectives on AI development and use, and the role data activism can play in civic engagement. Here is the panel session recording.

Dr. Renée Sieber and collaborator Mich (Michèle) Spieler joined the session as panelists alongside Caroline Running Wolf, J. Carlos Lara, and Renée Cummings; Ana Brandusescu co-moderated with Dr. Jess Reia.

Meeting at Canada’s House of Commons’ Standing Committee on ETHI: The Use and Impact of Facial Recognition Technology

March 21, 2022

Ana Brandusescu testified on the use and impact of facial recognition technology for Canada’s House of Commons’ Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics (ETHI). Here are her opening remarks, the meeting recording, and the report of the Standing Committee on ETHI on “Facial Recognition Technology and the Growing Power of Artificial Intelligence.”

Presentation at the IEEE AI Procurement Working Group on Canada and AI procurement

May 19, 2022

Dr. Renée Sieber and Ana Brandusescu presented “Canada and AI Procurement” to the IEEE 3119 Working Group on Global Standards for AI procurement. They discussed public procurement, challenges and opportunities across multiple jurisdictions: from federal to local governments.

Comments on the third review of Canada’s Directive on Automated Decision-Making

June 30, 2022

Ana Brandusescu and Dr. Renée Sieber were invited to submit their comments on the third review of Canada’s Directive on Automated Decision-Making’s of key issues, policy recommendations, and provisional amendments. This review is a part of the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS)’s first phase of stakeholder engagements.

The Directive consultation is part of a broader set of targeted engagements the TBS Data & AI Policy team is currently undertaking with stakeholders from academia, civil society, other government institutions, and international organizations.

Collection of essays on Artificial Intelligence in the City: Building Civic Engagement and Public Trust

July 2022

“Artificial Intelligence in the City: Building Civic Engagement and Public Trust” brings together a group of multidisciplinary scholars, activists, and practitioners working on a diverse range of initiatives to map strategies going forward. Divided into five parts, the collection brings into focus: 1) Meaningful engagement and public participation; 2) Addressing inequalities and building trust; 3) Public and private boundaries in tech policy; 4) Legal perspectives and mechanisms for accountability; and 5) New directions for local and urban governance.

AI in the City is available in English, French, and Spanish.

The publication is co-edited by Ana Brandusescu and Dr. Jess Reia, with essays from Dr. Renée Sieber, Abigail Adu-Daako and Ana Brandusescu, as well as collaborators Allison Cohen, Rob Davidson, Dr. Peter Johnson, Dr. Pamela Robinson, Mich (Michèle) Spieler and Bianca Wylie.

18th International Conference on Computational Urban Planning and Urban Management (CUPUM)

June 20-22, 2023

Conference chair Dr. Renée Sieber and conference coordinator Suthee (Peck) Sangiambut hosted 140 attendees from around the world in Montreal for the International Conference on Computational Urban Planning and Urban Management (CUPUM), now in its 39th year. CUPUM has been one of the premier international conferences for the exchange of ideas and applications of computing technologies to address a diverse range of social, managerial, and environmental problems impacting urban planning and development. In 2023, the 18th international CUPUM conference focused on collaborative, multidisciplinary and inclusive urban transformations, where future cities are made together.  

Our collaborator, Bianca Wylie joined the conference as the keynote speaker discussing Necessary Friction(s): Urban Technology and Public Compliance, Resistance, and Reliance Reorganizing the Computational Futures of Cities and held a critical discussion. Dr. Renée Sieber joined the CUPUM According to ChatGPT session as a panelist alongside Dr. Raja Sengupta, Dr. Sarah Williams, Dr. Robert Goodspeed, Dr. Anthony Yeh, Dr. Roberto Ponce Lopez, and Dr. Antonio Nelson Rodrigues de Silva to discuss Urban AI Ethics in the classroom and beyond.

Dr. Renée Sieber presented Zhibin (Allen) Zheng’s research that used topic modelling to interpret the smart city. Sichen Wan presented Artificial Intelligence (AI) Adoption in Canadian Municipalities: In-house Development versus Outsourcing co-authored with Dr. Renée Sieber. Collaborator Dr. Pamela Robinson presented The Platformization of Public Participation: Considerations for Urban Planners Navigating New Engagement Tools, co-authored with collaborator Dr. Peter Johnson.

18th International Conference on Computational Urban Planning and Urban Management (CUPUM) Book – Intelligence for Future Cities: Planning Through Big Data and Urban Analytics

June 2023

The book is organized into three parts: Digital Cities, Mobility Futures, and Fine-scale Urban Analysis. The chapters contain innovative research about smart cities, urban platforms, bikeability, ride-hailing, walkability, planning support systems, urban heat mitigation, and urban growth modeling. The 16 chapters were presented at the 18th International Conference on Computational Urban Planning and Urban Management at McGill University.

Intelligence for Future Cities is available here.

Comments on Preliminary Discussions with the Government of Canada on Council of Europe Treaty Negotiations on Artificial Intelligence

August 2023

Ana Brandusescu and Dr. Renée Sieber were invited to submit their comments on preliminary discussions with the Government of Canada on Council of Europe treaty negotiations on AI, proposing the treaty should adopt harm-based and rights-based approaches.

In developing Canada’s negotiating positions, the Core Departments representing Canada in these negotiations — co-led by Global Affairs Canada and the Department of Justice, with strong support by the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat and Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada — solicited the views of Canadian experts and stakeholders with an interest and expertise in AI and human rights.

Canada’s AI and Data Act: A Missed Opportunity for Shared Prosperity

October 2023

Ana Brandusescu and Dr. Renée Sieber submitted a policy brief to the Industry and Technology Standing Committee’s study on Bill C-27. The brief discusses four problems, namely that: (1) the AI and Data Act (AIDA) implies but does not ensure shared prosperity; (2) the combination of technology promotion and regulation by ISED will not ensure widespread prosperity; (3) public consultation is absent in the creation and refinement of the AIDA; and (4) the AIDA does not include workers’ rights. They propose that government: (1) ensure accountability from public and private sectors; (2) build in robust workers’ rights; and (3) ensure meaningful public participation, all of which are essential to foster innovation and economic growth. Otherwise, wealth is concentrated in the hands of industry, which stifles progress and widespread prosperity.

The meeting recording and opening remarks from Ana Brandusescu testifying before the INDU Standing Committee on December 7, 2023.

Who Are the Publics Engaging in AI?

January 2024

Dr. Renée Sieber, Ana Brandusescu, Abigail Adu-Daako, and Suthee Sangiambut publish their massive systematic and multi-disciplinary review project in Public Understanding of Science titled Who Are the Publics Engaging in AI? is open access. The authors draw on their methods to uncover the numerous ways that publics were discussed in our corpus. The object of study is the actor, not the act. They follow DiSalvo (2009), who argued that we cannot identify or understand the publics’ actions until they are first constituted as a public. In the results, the authors seek to explicate the blurriness of publics and implied affordances of their “publicness.” Findings reveal the (1) Reliance on the most common terms; (2) Predominance of the neoliberal; (3) STEM confidence in human-in-the-loop; (4) Those left out; (5) Sheer breadth of actors; and (6) Affordances of expertise. The authors then discuss ontological shifts: flattening blurs power dimensions and elides movement from one category to another; and epistemological shapings: categorizing publics represents an act of power, politics, and truth-seeking.

What is Civic Participation in Artificial Intelligence?

October 2024

Dr. Renée Sieber, Ana Brandusescu, Suthee Sangiambut, and Abigail Adu-Daako publish their massive systematic and multi-disciplinary review project in Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science titled What is Civic Participation in Artificial Intelligence? is open access. From their analysis, the authors derive five themes from authors’ work on participation in AI: (1) participation as a natural byproduct of automating government; (2) participation facilitated through the medium of AI; (3) participation in AI as quantification; (4) participation as a technocracy of trust; and (5) participation as meaningful.

“With few exceptions, authors seemed not to challenge the status quo nor diminish the authority of the experts. Authors focused on the processual without the influence and AI aided in that process orientation. We conclude that the future of public participation in AI requires careful attention to become meaningful including recognition of neoliberal intent and power differentials.”