Our mission is to deepen our knowledge of technologies, societies, and what it means to be human by integrating research across traditional boundaries and building human-centred solutions that really make a difference.
We want to make sure powerful technologies truly make the world a better place—for everyone.
Across all our activities, we convene world-class expertise and draw on diverse perspectives from universities, government, industry, and community organizations to develop new modes of thinking about powerful technologies and their role in what it means to be human in the 21st century.
We’re defining what’s possible, determining what’s at stake, and devising implementable solutions to make sure technologies like AI are effective, safe, fair, and beneficial—for everyone.
Institute Leadership
Gillian K. Hadfield
Schwartz Reisman Chair in Technology and Society
Gillian K. Hadfield is the Schwartz Reisman Chair in Technology and Society, professor of law and strategic management at the University of Toronto, and a Canada CIFAR AI Chair at the Vector Institute for Artificial Intelligence. Her current research is focused on innovative design for legal and regulatory systems for AI and other complex global technologies; computational models of human normative systems; and working with machine learning researchers to build ML systems that understand and respond to human norms. Hadfield was the inaugural director of the Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society from 2019 to 2023.
Kelly Lyons
Interim Director, Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society
Kelly Lyons is a professor in the Faculty of Information at the University of Toronto, with a cross appointment to the Department of Computer Science. She is currently serving as interim director of the Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society. Prior to joining the University of Toronto, she was the program director of the IBM Toronto Lab Centre for Advanced Studies. Lyons’ research interests include service science, knowledge mobilization, data science, and software engineering. Lyons is an IBM faculty fellow and a board member of CS-Can/Info-Can, Canada’s leading organization for the discipline of computer science.