AI can create ‘ghostbots’ that mimic lost loved ones—but should it?
Artificial intelligence (AI) can be used to create chatbots that mimic a specific human being – even if that human being is no longer with us. An AI companion that mimics lost loved ones could help people process grief and ease the loneliness that comes with the loss, says Emmanuelle Vaast, Professor of Information Systems and Associate Dean of Research at Â鶹AV Desautels.
Â鶹AV Desautels professors and lecturers recognized at Faculty Awards
Across programs and subject areas, the Â鶹AV Desautels Faculty of Management recognizes the vital role that research, teaching, service and media engagement play in enriching the student experience and inspiring the next generation of leaders through the annual Faculty Awards. This year we recognize the following outstanding members of our faculty:
Research
Â鶹AV Desautels BCom Wins McCAIS Undergraduate Research Award 2024
Bachelor of Commerce student Nikki Tye is the recipient of the Â鶹AV Collaborative for AI & Society (McCAIS)’s Undergraduate Research Award (McURA) for Summer 2024. The $8,700 award, aimed at promoting interdisciplinary AI research in society, recognizes Nikki's project on "Protecting the Amazon Forest from Illegal Activity through Image Recognition and Operations Research: A Partnership with JungleKeepers and Peruvian Indigenous Communities."
Â鶹AV Desautels faculty members and researchers celebrated at Bravo Gala
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Â鶹AV hosted its annual Bravo Gala on Thursday, March 21, which honours its faculty members and researchers who have won special awards, memberships and prizes over the past year. Â鶹AV Desautels is proud to announce 14 of its faculty amongst the distinguished honourees this year. Congratulations to our deserving laureates! Full list below. #Bravo2024
Delve: Are Digital Tech Workers Coding Themselves Out of Existence? with Emmanuelle Vaast and Alain Pinsonneault
What if just doing your job causes you to lose your job? New technologies have constantly replaced old technologies for hundreds of years, but new digital technologies, namely artificial intelligence and other data-driven technologies, are doing more than replacing old tech—they’re replacing the people who create those technologies in the first place.
Delve: Occupational Evolution or Extinction?
Despite being essential in organizations across sectors, data scientists wrestle with the implications of writing the code that will replace their own jobs.
Delve: Searching for the Pandemic’s Silver Lining? Look Online.
The COVID-19 pandemic and the requirements of physical distancing have created a sense of crisis that transcends most boundaries. While the imposed trauma is immense, the sharing of personal pandemic experiences online has been encouraging.
Professor Emmanuelle Vaast named Associate Dean of Research
As Professor Vihang Errunza steps down from his role as Associate Dean of Research at the Desautels Faculty of Management, Professor Emmanuelle Vaast is gearing up to take the reins.
A newly-launched coalition for responsible AI
Professor Emmanuelle Vaast is one among ten Â鶹AV members who comprise the new International Observatory on the Social Impacts of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Technologies (OIISIAN) - a $7.5 million initiative spearheaded by the government of Quebec to explore interdisciplinary and intersectoral perspectives on the impact of AI and digital technology on individuals, organizations, and communities.
Announcing the Desautels Faculty Scholars
The Faculty Research Workload Committee (RWC) has completed its review of applications submitted by tenured faculty to fill the currently vacant Faculty Scholar Award slots.
The Faculty is pleased to congratulate the following recipients of the Desautels Scholar Awards (effective September 1, 2018 to August 31, 2021):
The influence of social media
The Globe and Mail recently featured the research of Desautels Professors Emmanuelle Vaast and Liette Lapointe that explored the power of social media to propel meaningful social movements.
Twitter use during the Gulf oil spill
Social media has become a part of everyday life. We enjoy the contact Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc., provide with friends and family, and, indeed, the world.
Sometimes we gripe about the downsides of the technology. People say it’s a time suck. There’s fake news. It’s hard to trust what you see.
New Undergraduate Program Wins Award for Sustainability in Business Curricula
The Desautels Faculty of Management congratulates the Marcel Desautels Institute for Integrated Management (MDIIM) and Desautels faculty members who were recently named recipients of the 2014 Dr. Alfred N. and Lynn Manos Page Prize for Integration of Sustainability Issues in Business Curricula, for conceiving and implementing the new Managing for Sustainability Major and Concentration (MSUS) programs for Bachelor of Commerce students at Â鶹AV.
Redéfinir son travail dans une entreprise dématérialisée
Flexibilité, autonomie, mais aussi disponibilité et rentabilité sont les maîtres mots du bureau 2.0. Le bureau de la chercheuse Emmanuelle Vaast, au cinquième étage de la faculté de gestion Desautels de l'Université Â鶹AV, est... vide. Les étagères sont dégarnies. Pas de photos de ses jumeaux sur les murs; aucune trace non plus de leurs derniers gribouillages.
