University of Toronto Professor Gillian Hadfield has been named as one of eight new Canada CIFAR AI Chairs for her leading research in the responsible use of artificial intelligence.
Hadfield is a professor of law and strategic management at U of T's Faculty of Law and Rotman School of Management. She also serves as the inaugural Schwartz Reisman Chair in Technology and Society and director of U of T’s Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology & Society. She is also affiliated with the Vector Institute for Artificial Intelligence in Toronto, where seven of the new CIFAR AI Chairs are located. The Vector Institute is a partnership between U of T, federal and provincial governments and industry, established in 2017.
Hadfield’s research is focused on the challenges of AI governance. She brings extensive legal, scientific and humanistic knowledge to the scrutiny of emerging technologies including AI, designing next-generation methods of regulation to ensure that the global technological transformation now underway will continue to achieve human goals of fairness, stability, prosperity, and human dignity.
The CIFAR AI Chairs are university-affiliated faculty who will help advance Canada's leadership in AI, under the Pan-Canadian Artificial Intelligence Strategy at CIFAR. Each will receive dedicated funding to support their AI research. Hadfield's CIFAR appointment sees her become the first Vector-affiliated social scientist named to the program.
“Gillian Hadfield is a leader in legal and strategic perspectives,” said Jutta Brunnée, Dean of the Faculty of Law, University Professor and James Marshall Tory Dean’s Chair. “This recognition by CIFAR will further advance critical research in AI governance."
