The Annual Hurtig Lecture on the Future of Canada
Trailled by Timmies: Surveillance Technology, AI and Human Futures
Would you like surveillance with your Double-Double?” Like it or not, you get surveillance before you even take your first sip. And the connection between the ‘coffee data’ and AI is close--AI generates surveillance, on an industrial scale. Worrying about the impacts of ChatGPT in high schools is one thing; what about AI issues in facial recognition cameras, used at sporting and related events; in worker monitoring and control at Uber and in the gig economy generally; and in national security agencies, who are sometimes cagey about their use of AI? Why and how are surveillance risks of AI often under-estimated and ill-considered, and why do appeals to “privacy” only scratch the surface of the contemporary problem? Have we become too “machine-centred” in approaching matters that matter to human beings?"
About the 2025 speaker: David Lyon - author, scholar, pioneer in surveillance studies
Canadian based, internationally renowned, pioneer in the field of Surveillance Studies. Educated at the University of Bradford, UK and an immigrant to Canada, he has led several large-scale multi disciplinary research projects on surveillance. In addition to numerous articles, he is is the author, editor or co-editor of 31 books which have been translated into 18 languages. These include The Electronic Eye (1994), Transparent Lives: Surveillance in Canada / Vivre à nu: la surveillance au Canada (2014) and Big Data Surveillance and Security Intelligence: The Canadian Case (2022). His most recent book, Surveillance: A Very Short Introduction, was published by Oxford University Press in 2024. He is the former and inaugural Director of the Surveillance Studies Centre at Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario where he is also Professor Emeritus of Sociology and Law. For many years, he worked alongside the federal Office of the Privacy Commissoner, researching for reports. He also collaborated with the Office of the Information Privacy Commissioner of BC. David Lyon's many contributions have been recognized through a number of national and international awards, prizes and distinctions. These include the Molson Prize from the Canada Council for the Arts, the Insight-Impact Award from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Sociological Association (Communication and Information Technology Section), the Outstanding Contribution Award from the Canadian Sociological Association, and an honorary doctorate from Università della svizzera italiana. David Lyon also holds fellowships in the Royal Society of Canada and the Academy of Social Sciences, UK.