Previous Meetings

Meeting Overview

Date & Time: October 7, 2025, 8:04 PM
Facilitator: Matthew Steven William Silk
Main Topic: Developing a framework for AI literacy, particularly in educational contexts.

Key Themes & Discussion Points

1. Defining AI Literacy

AI literacy extends beyond technical knowledge and includes understanding:

Capabilities and limitations of AI tools.
Workflow structures (e.g., ChatGPT’s multi-phase fact-checking).
Biases and training data origins.
Ethical implications of AI use in academia.

Tiered Literacy Approach:

Students: Foundational understanding and responsible use.
Educators: Pedagogical integration and disciplinary implications.
Administrators: Policy, infrastructure, and governance.

2. Framework Development

Proposed categories for AI literacy:

Accuracy: Reliability of AI outputs.
Interpretation: How AI processes and presents information.
Functionality: Practical use and limitations.
Disciplinary Relevance: Alignment with academic fields.
Authorship: Ethical boundaries of AI-assisted work.
Privacy & Trust: Data ownership and transparency.

Emphasis was placed on developing normative frameworks to guide responsible AI use, avoiding extremes of total bans or unrestricted adoption.

3. Educational Integration

Suggestions included:

University-provided AI assistants tailored to individual students.
Use of synthetic data to mitigate legal and ethical concerns.
Development of domain-specific academic models.
Creation of a centralized AI literacy resource across universities.

Concerns were raised about student misconceptions and overreliance on AI tools, highlighting the importance of human-in-the-loop systems.

4. Infrastructure & Policy

Discussion of Canada's lack of sovereign AI infrastructure.
Concerns regarding U.S.-controlled data centers and implications of the Patriot Act.
Need for Canadian-controlled cloud services and identity systems.
Funding challenges and bureaucratic inefficiencies.
Proposal to build a prototype AI system using university resources (e.g., Arts Computing machine room).

5. Ethical Considerations

AI psychosis and risks of over-trust in AI outputs.
Importance of transparency, epistemic responsibility, and justified belief.
Risks of placating behavior in general-purpose AI systems.
Need for guardrails rather than rigid prohibitive rules.

Action Items & Next Steps

Next Meeting: October 28, 2025, at 4:00 PM.
Proposed Topics:
- AI in medicine.
- AI as companions or romantic partners.
- Further development of the AI literacy framework.