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Trailed by Timmies: Surveillance Technology, AI and Human Futures

Would you like surveillance with your Double-Double?” Like it or not, you get surveilled 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 security agencies which 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?

Join us for an urgent and eye-opening conversation on the overlooked consequences of AI and surveillance in Canada. Following David Lyon’s talk, there will be a panel moderated by Kevin Haggerty (Department of Sociology) featuring expert insights from Steven Penney (Faculty of Law), Nicolette Little (Department of Media and Technology Studies/Women’s and Gender Studies), and Blair Attard-Frost (Department of Political Science).

Together, they’ll explore the legal, cultural, political and social implications of surveillance technologies and ask: What kind of future are we building—and for whom?

Can't make it in person?

Speaker

David Lyon (PhD, FRSC, FAcSS) is a globally recognized pioneer in Surveillance Studies. Originally from the UK and now based in Canada, he has led major multidisciplinary research projects and authored or edited 31 books, translated into 18 languages—including The Electronic Eye, Transparent Lives, and Surveillance: A Very Short Introduction (2024). He is Professor Emeritus of Sociology and Law at Queen’s University and was the founding Director of its Surveillance Studies Centre. His work with privacy commissioners and extensive academic contributions have earned him numerous national and international honours, including the Molson Prize and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Sociological Association.