Call for Submissions: Poster Session at the International AI and Society Conference

The AI + Society Initiative at the University of Ottawa is pleased to announce a call for submissions to graduate students and postdoctoral fellows for a poster session to be hosted during the International AI + Society Conference at the University of Ottawa on October 19 and 20, 2023

The International AI + Society Conference aims to foster inclusive conversations between people conceptualizing, designing, building, and deploying AI technologies, and those designing or influencing our sociotechnical reality. The conference builds on a growing body of scholarship exploring how the increasing sophistication and autonomous decision-making capabilities of AI disrupt existing legal regimes and social institutions, pose threats to human rights, and may require rethinking policy and governance issues. Spanning two days, the conference features an engaging program of keynote speeches, panel discussions, armchair conversations, poster sessions, and exhibitions with thought leaders from North, Central and South Americas, Africa, Oceania, Asia and Europe.

As part of this international conference, we will host a poster session for graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and other junior researchers consisting of lightning talks followed by a session where attendees will have the opportunity to engage with poster authors.

The poster session is designed to accommodate late-breaking and cutting-edge projects, as well as ongoing projects. This session is also ideal for junior researchers to get feedback on a work-in-progress.

We welcome diverse contributions from academics, practitioners, and other thinkers, and strongly encourage submissions from both emerging and established researchers, as well as individuals from non-traditional backgrounds. We seek submissions from a wide range of disciplines, promoting interdisciplinary authorship and collaborations between developers of AI and related technologies, and researchers in the humanities, social sciences, ethics, law, and policy.

We particularly welcome poster submissions that focus on framing the ethical, legal, and societal implications of AI by leveraging a transdisciplinary approach, and submissions that foster interdisciplinary collaboration and knowledge exchange in the domain of AI.

Hosted by the AI + Society Initiative, the conference aims at amplifying the voices and perspectives of women, youth, seniors, Indigenous People, LGBTQIA2S+, racialized communities, people with disabilities, linguistic minorities, and those at the intersection of these identities. People from these groups are invited to self-identify in their submission. We will also aim at providing travel support for junior scholars from majority world/low and middle-income countries.

We welcome posters both in English or French.

Proposals are due by July 16, 2023. Submissions, in French or English, should include the title of the proposed poster, an abstract of up to 2,500 characters (~400 words) and supporting references or resources on the submission form.

A digital copy of the final posters will need to be provided by October 1, 2023, with an updated abstract of maximum 500 words in either English or French. The organization will take care of translating the abstract in the other language.

Authors will need to print and bring a hard copy of the poster to display at the conference.We will provide poster holders.

At least one of the authors of each accepted poster should plan to present the poster. We will waive all conference fees for at least one author of each accepted poster.

All poster submissions are submitted to a double-blind review. To maximize your chances of acceptance, please do not discuss the substance of your proposal with any program and/or review committee members.

Travel funding

Thanks to the Government of Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC), funding is available to allow researchers from the majority world/low and middle-income countries to attend the conference. The IDRC AI and Society Global Voices Fellowships will cover travel costs to Ottawa, as well as accommodation and registration fees. Subject to available funds, partial funding might be offered to additional applicants.

Poster submission will be assessed independently on scientific merits only. However, requests for funding should be presented at the time of your proposal submission.

The AI + Society Initiative aims at defining problems and identifying solutions to essential issues related to ethical AI and technology development. The research leverages a transdisciplinary approach to advance AI methods and tools, with a focus on their responsible applications.

The Initiative promotes an inclusive research agenda with a specific focus on avoiding the amplification of global digital injustices through AI for affected communities. The research will include many important voices such as women, youth, seniors, Indigenous People, LGBTQIA2S+, visible minorities, people with disabilities, and linguistic minorities – and those at the intersection of these identities.

The Initiative offers students new opportunities to gain experience, locally and abroad, in an emerging field that will have profound implications on Canadian society in the years to come. The Initiative’s outreach includes lectures, conferences and workshops, training, tools, frameworks, and white papers that will help develop global thought leadership on AI and society.

While being grounded in rigorous evidence-based academic research, most outreach (public lectures, training, tools, white papers, reports) will be developed with the general public in mind, so non-academic stakeholders can take ownership, and implement them, to have a transformative impact within their communities.