As a means of showcasing the unique approaches, values, and topics of special interest held by Canadian information scientists to the global community at large, this special issue – hosted by the Association of Information Science and Technology’s (ASIS&T) Canada Chapter – showcases Canadian perspectives on Information Science research and practice.
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This editorial contains four topics of importance to the Journal. The first topic is to celebrate our expert reviewers, some by name. Second, we discuss the move to Wiley’s Research Exchange for submissions. Third, we discuss the Journal’s expectations of data sharing, balancing both with the emerging norms of more scientific openness and the realities of what is possible given the different funding, ethical, legal and operational arrangements that scholars face. The fourth topic is the Journal’s stance on uses of artificial intelligence.
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This special issue of Information Matters explores the crucial role of information in empowering and transforming communities facing systemic challenges and in redressing systemic inequalities. The eight articles in this special issue discuss different ways in which these objectives can be achieved.
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An agent is an autonomous entity or program that takes preferences, instructions, or other forms of inputs from a user to accomplish specific tasks on their behalf. And there is a huge hype around agents these days, thanks to advancements in various GenAI technologies. As big and small companies and individual developers continue investing heavily in development and deployment of agents, we are often missing some of the basic considerations, including what problems are we solving and how users, their tasks, and their contexts are incorporated in these developments.
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AI is playing an increasingly larger part in our lives and the world around us. By some projections, we will have AGI, or Artificial General Intelligence, in less than a decade. Some are even arguing we are already there. Regardless of this timeline, it is clear that AI unchecked has potentials to cause great harms. Can we control or contain AI such that we can stop those harms? It’s not easy.
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There are several ways to define Artificial Intelligence (AI), but the question is — does it matter? This editorial argues that instead of getting lost in the definitional issues, we should focus on designing systems and experiences that allow us to solve problems and accomplish tasks.
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Experts often present two differing views here for how to make AI safe and secure: give it away for free and distribute it widely like open-source software, or keep it contained and regulated like nuclear energy. I believe there is a third option – something that stems from parenting.
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Google’s recent announcement about “AI Overviews” has created divisive reception. On one hand, it’s helping us by giving a shortcut to an answer and saving us effort to sift through a bunch of results. On the other hand, this shortcut robs us of our agency and ability to verify, question, and learn. Is this the future we want for accessing and interacting with information?
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Killer robots. Dystopian AI. Machine uprisings. Why are we utterly fascinated with the idea of our gadgets turning against us? Here I unravel our obsession with the rise of the machines and show that a big part of the appeal is really the projection of our own fears and dilemmas.
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In the last two decades, AI has advanced leaps and bounds to the point where we are seriously having conversations about ‘it’ being ‘intelligent’ as humans or even surpassing humans. But before we get too wrapped up in that excitement or fear, it’s important that we look inwards and ask — what makes us intelligent, conscious, and human?
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