The social implications of emerging technologies: Are the most important questions the least studied?

Big Thinking on the road

The social implications of emerging technologies: Are the most important questions the least studied?

Rapid development of transformative new technologies – such as social media, artificial intelligence, and new health technologies – is creating important opportunities and challenges for governments, businesses, the research community and society at large. Too often, however, the social implications of such developments are overlooked. In this session, we explore whether the Canadian policy and research community is doing enough to understand and address the social implications of new technologies. We consider how multidisciplinary approaches can help us address multiple dimensions of technological change and better understand the roles of diverse actors, including the natural scientist, the philosopher, the engineer, the behavioural scientist, the historian, and the policy maker.

Panel:

Jaigris Hodson, Associate Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies, Royal Roads University

Eric Meslin, President and CEO, Council of Canadian Academies

Dominic Martin, Professor of Ethics, École des sciences de la gestion, Université du Québec à Montréal

Moderator:

Peter Severinson, Policy Analyst, Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences