Welcome to the

Trustworthy AI Lab

at Ontario Tech University

The Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence Lab, at Ontario Tech University, is the research lab led by Canada Research Chair, Peter Lewis.

We are an interdisciplinary lab in the Faculty of Business and Information Technology, exploring how to make the relationship between AI and society work better.

Embedding AI in society presents a complex mix of technical and social challenges, not the least of which is: as more decisions are delegated to AI systems that we cannot fully verify, understand, or control, when do people trust them?

Our approach is to work towards empowering people to make good trust decisions about intelligent machines of different sorts, in different contexts. How can we conceive of and build intelligent machines that people find worthy of trust, and that are transparent about why?

Our work draws on extensive experience in leading AI adoption projects in commercial and non-profit organizations across several sectors, as well as faculty research expertise in artificial intelligence, artificial life, trust, and computational self-awareness. A major aim is to tackle the challenge of building reflective AI, artificial intelligence with the self-awareness to enhance and expose its trustworthiness to people.

News

Nov 1, 2022 1 min read

Trustworthy AI Lab researchers attend CNIB research retreat

As part of our ongoing collaboration with the Canadian National Institute for the Blind, researchers from Ontario Tech’s Trustworthy AI lab and Human-Machine lab attended an annual research retreat at CNIB’s Lake Joe camp.

There are significant opportunities in the use of AI for assistive technology, and important questions to ask around accessibility in AI technology. Our strategic partnership means that we have the ability to tackle these challenges together, as well as provide experiential learning opportunities to graduate students and postdoctoral fellows.

Sep 5, 2022 1 min read

Three New Graduate Students join the Trustworthy AI Lab

We are delighted to welcome three new graduate students to the Trustworthy AI Lab in the Fall 2022 cohort. Nathan Lloyd (PhD student) will be exploring reflective, normative agents that can modify their individual beliefs in the context of their environment and societal norms. Zahra Ahmadi (MSc) has interests in AI and trust in assistive technology, and Arsh Chowdhry is exploring the trustworthiness (or otherwise) of AI systems in the healthcare sector.

Welcome!

Jun 10, 2022 1 min read

Trustworthy AI Lab Welcomes New Researchers!

Since the Trustworthy AI Lab was founded in June 2021, we are delighted to have welcomed five new researchers to the team. From left to right: Aishwaryaprajna (postdoctoral fellow), Joanna Bakler (Masters student), Tala Defo (Masters student), Shahrbanoo Zomorodzadeh (Masters student), Steve Marsh (Lab Co-Director), Peter Lewis (Lab Director), Narayan Kabra (Mitacs Globallink Intern).

Welcome all! And check out the People section for more info on their projects.

Mar 30, 2022 1 min read

Trustworthy AI Lab Director writes Hill Times Op-Ed

Director of Ontario Tech’s Trustworthy AI Lab, Canada Research Chair in Trustworthy AI Dr. Peter Lewis, wrote an invited op-ed for Canadian political newspaper, The Hill Times. The piece discussed whether AI research is hitting a plateau (in Canada, and more generally). If you don’t have a subscription to be able to read the original, there is a free, slightly longer form version that can be read on Pete’s blog.

Sep 17, 2021 2 min read

We are hiring!

We are recruiting for a postdoctoral research fellow in the area of reflective self-awareness for AI systems.