2026 Wiegand Memorial Foundation Lecture, delivered by Teresa Heffernan, professor of English language and literature at Saint Mary’s University in Halifax.
The Jackman Humanities Institute invites you to this year’s Wiegand Memorial Foundation Lecture, “Where Artificial Intelligence and Fiction Meet,” delivered by Teresa Heffernan, professor of English language and literature at Saint Mary’s University in Halifax.
Professor Heffernan will delve into the question of how discussions of a technological future change if the AI industry co-opts fiction. From Alan Turing to Douglas Adams to Demis Hassabis, the fiction and science of artificial intelligence have long been entangled and conflated in the cultural imaginary.
As the AI industry re-shapes knowledge, this talk considers what gets lost when the centuries-old study of human society and culture is swallowed up by a very different type of knowledge-generated algorithm, linear algebra and statistics, and why it is imperative to keep the tension between computation and languages alive.
Have questions about this event?
Contact Faculty of Arts & Science at events.artsci@utoronto.ca
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