Keynotes

Jessica Thompson • Stacy Allison-Cassin • Kory Mathewson

Jessica Thompson

Listening in place: How the social distribution of creative algorithms can help us understand cities
Presentation Date: June 20, 2023 at Federation Hall
Session Chair: Steve DiPaola, Simon Fraser University

Biography

Jessica Thompson is an Associate Professor of Hybrid Media at the University of Waterloo and Director of the Stratford School of Interaction Design and Business. Her artistic research investigates the ways that sound reveals spatial and social conditions within cities, and how the creative use of urban data can generate new modes of citizen engagement. She has been making interactive artworks since 2003.

Her projects have shown in exhibitions and festivals such as the International Symposium of Electronic Art (San Jose, Dubai, Vancouver), the Conflux Festival (New York), Thinking Metropolis (Copenhagen), Beyond/In Western New York (Buffalo), New Interfaces in Musical Expression (Oslo), Artists’ Walks (New York), Locus Sonus (Aix-en-Provence), the Art Gallery of Windsor Triennial (Windsor), InterACTION (Kitchener), HASTAC (Vancouver), Re:Sound (Aalborg), Entorno Encuentro Exploración (Pamplona) and The Politics of Sound (Lethbridge). She has received grants from the Ontario Arts Council, the Toronto Arts Council, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, and the Government of Ontario.

Stacy Allison-Cassin

Absence versus Prescence, Certainty versus Ambiguity: Creative Approaches to Ethical Data Practice
Presentation Date: June 22, 2023 at Federation Hall
Session Chair: Alison Hitchens, University of Waterloo Library

Biography

Stacy Allison-Cassin works in the Department of Information Science in the Faculty of Management at Dalhousie University in Kjipuktuk (Halifax), Nova Scotia. Stacy’s current work is connected to Indigenous data standards and governance, linked data, and vocabularies. Stacy is the Co-Chair of the Respectful Terminologies Platform Project through the National Indigenous Knowledge and Language Alliance and a citizen of the Métis Nation of Ontario with strong kinship connections to the Georgian Bay Métis community. She is also Chair of the International Association of Library Associations Indigenous Matters Standing Committee and the community chair for the Language Preservation and Instruction community and a member of Council of the National Indigenous Knowledge and Language Association, the IEEE Working Group on the Provenance of Indigenous Peoples Data, as well as other advisory bodies.

Kory Mathewson

The Show Must Go On: Co-Creating with Artificial Intelligence
Presentation Date: June 22, 2023 (Virtual)
Session Chair: Kate Larson, University of Waterloo School of Computer Science

Talk Abstract

AI technologies are redefining artistic collaboration. They augment human abilities and enable breakthroughs in interactive creativity. Kory Mathewson draws from his extensive experience in theatre and AI research to spotlight the intersection of technology and artistic performance. In his journey to evolve how we create alongside machines, he has learned that an inventor doesn’t know how broken a tool is until someone uses it. The best medium for scientific experimentation is the theatre stage. Kory explores the successes, challenges, and ethics of putting humans and AI systems together on stage, with Improbotics, and in the writers room, with Dramatron. How did we end up here as artists and scientists? Through innovation, empathy, and perseverance. As they say, the show must go on!

Biography

Kory Mathewson is a Senior Research Scientist with Google DeepMind and an Associate Industry Member at Mila – the Quebec Artificial Intelligence Institute currently living in Montreal, Canada. Kory holds a Ph.D. in Computing Science from the University of Alberta with the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute. Kory’s research focuses on understanding intelligent interaction between humans and machines, most recently in the domains of interactive, conversational systems and creative applications of artificial intelligence. Kory is also a Lab Scientist with the Creative Destruction Lab where he supports massively scalable science-based startups including Areto Labs. Previously, he interned at Google Brain, Google Magenta, Apple, and Twitter and completed his Masters and Bachelors in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Alberta.

He is also a theatre director and creator who performs around the world with Rapid Fire Theatre and Improbotics. He is a Canadian Comedy Award winning improvisor who has worked across North America, Europe, and the UK. Alongside Julian Faid, Kory co-created Improvised TED Talks (2018), and with Piotr Mirowski, he co-created HumanMachine (2017). At the forefront of the art form of improvisation, he brings new techniques and formats inspired by his work in cybernetics and artificial intelligence.

Reach out @korymath on Twitter to say 👋, and see korymathewson.com for more.