blair

@blairaf

Canada CIFAR AI Chair, Asst. Prof, sci-fi creator @ UAlberta Transfeminist AI governance, ethics, policy: blairaf.com Gay trans cyborg warriors vs. AI monsters: objecttype3.app

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blair@blairaf· 4d

here we go again

Excerpt from a paper that reads: "Under the Trudeau government, the Artificial Intelligence and Data Act (AIDA) was tabled in the Canadian House of Commons in 2022 with the goal of legislating risk mitigation and accountability requirements for “high-impact” uses of AI. Unfortunately,"

blair@blairaf· 10d

Me rolling back into work mode after weeks of sunbathing and writing weird little stories and essays

Image of a dog sleeping in a square of sunlight with the caption "Continue Yes No"

blair@blairaf· Jun 22

I wrote this weird little essay in 2023 about a near-future in which AI, extended reality, and interlocking policy failures collapse politics into glitchy post-reality soup & fragile cognitive security regimes. So many prescient predictions in this volume, excited it's finally out!

Excerpt from the essay in the liked volume entitled "Realness"

blair@blairaf· Jun 9

Super excited for our CRAFT workshop on trans AI policy at FAccT, co-organized w @jhereia.bsky.social & @anabrandusescu.bsky.social, come join us if you're at the conference! More details here: programs.sigchi.org/facct/2026/p...

Poster entitled "Designing AI policy for and with trans communities"

blair@blairaf· Jun 7

Relevant meme

Meme of Kirby absorbing and expanding upon a discursive opponent's frame rather than simply negating the frame and explaining why it's untrue

blair@blairaf· Jun 2

I'm looking for a new PhD student to come join me at UAlberta & Amii to study trans perspectives on AI policy & the future of AI as part of my new lab. The position is fully funded and offers access to a range of supports - more details in the poster below!

Flyer with qualifications and details for the PhD position.

blair@blairaf· Jun 1

"Prevent reinforcment of historical injustices" vs. "Reinforce exclusivity in tech policy & governance processes"

The which way meme with a boy at a crossroads facing a light path and a dark path

blair@blairaf· Jun 1

I make all of my teaching materials open access! My newest course is entitled "Politics of Digital Technologies", and I also have syllabi, reading lists, & lecture slides openly available from my other courses on AI governance & policy All my course materials are here: www.blairaf.com/resources/

Screenshot of a syllabus for a course entitled "Politics of Digital Technologies"

blair@blairaf· Jun 1

Not a fan of "AGI"? I have an anti-AGI paper! "Queering Intelligence" introduces a new anti-normative theory of intelligence and uses it to deflate two normative foundations of "AI": general intelligence and the Turing Test: www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/oa-...

Screenshot from the first page of a paper published as a chapter in a book. The title of the paper is "Queering intelligence." The page contains text from the paper's Introduction section that can be found within the hyperlink in this post.

blair@blairaf· Jun 1

"Transfeminist AI governance" draws on trans and feminist theory & 3 of my empirical studies to address structural reasons why AI policy & governance are so often ineffective at preventing harm: firstmonday.org/ojs/index.ph...

Abstract for a paper entitled "Transfeminist AI Governance". The abstract reads: "This paper re-imagines the governance of artificial intelligence (AI) through a transfeminist lens, focusing on challenges of power, participation, and injustice, and on opportunities for advancing equity, community-based resistance, and transformative change. AI governance is a field of research and practice seeking to maximize benefits and minimize harms caused by AI systems. Unfortunately, AI governance practices are frequently ineffective at preventing AI systems from harming people and the environment, with historically marginalized groups such as trans people being particularly vulnerable to harm. Building upon trans and feminist theories of ethics, I introduce an approach to transfeminist AI governance. Applying a transfeminist lens in combination with a critical self-reflexivity methodology, I retroactively reinterpret findings from three empirical studies of AI governance practices in Canada and globally. In three reflections on my findings, I show that large-scale AI governance systems structurally prioritize the needs of industry over marginalized communities. As a result, AI governance is limited by power imbalances and exclusionary norms. My reflections reveal that re-grounding AI governance in transfeminist ethical principles can support AI governance researchers, practitioners, and organizers in addressing those limitations."

blair@blairaf· Jun 1

"The Governance of AI in Canada", a longer research paper with @anabrandusescu.bsky.social & Kelly Lyons looking at 84 of Canada's AI governance initiatives and discuss challenges of public trust & participation, diversity, transparency, and collaboration: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Screenshot of an article entitled "The governance of artificial intelligence in Canada"

blair@blairaf· Jun 1

"AI Regulation in a Post-Reality World" looks at the erosion of reality amidst a tide of AI slop, introducing concepts like ontological & intangible harm and smaller-scale regulatory strategies for navigating post-reality environments: libraopen.lib.virginia.edu/downloads/cc...

Screenshot of an article entitled "AI regulation in a post-reality world"

blair@blairaf· Jun 1

How can we address algorithmic justice challenges when we are faced with unreliable and malicious governments? "Algorithmic Justice vs. State Power" confronts this question: montrealethics.ai/state-of-ai-...

Screenshot from an article entitled "Algorithmic Justice vs. State Power"

blair@blairaf· May 29

All 4 of my 4S abstracts got accepted but now I have to put together 4 talks

Big smiley face emoji with two thumbs up and a burning building in the background

blair@blairaf· May 29

Reading my AI bible backwards with my AI bodyguard in the AI background on linkedin .com

AI slop image of the Pope reading a print version of Magnifica Humanitas backwards with a pope robot behind him

blair@blairaf· May 28

wow big nose

Huxley the dog has a big nose in a fisheye lens

blair@blairaf· May 28

Haven't posted dog in a while

Huxley the dog with black brown and white fur in a pink lit room

blair@blairaf· May 15

Catching strays from my critter

Huxley the dog has big ears and brown black and white fur and is tilting her head with big eyes in this photo

blair@blairaf· May 11

This winter I taught a new course entitled "Politics of Digital Technologies" and we had tons of fun discussing a range of digital policy issues. I'm making the syllabus & reading list open access, hope it's helpful for your own teaching or learning! Materials here: www.blairaf.com/resources/

Screenshot of the syllabus for a course entitled "Politics of Digital Technologies"

blair@blairaf· May 7

Putting together a whole talk about this

Title slide for a talk entitled "What is AI Governance? Findings from interviews with Canadian government leaders & subject matter experts"

blair@blairaf· Apr 30

Thrifted a new coat and found a receipt for 120 individually wrapped chicken breasts in the pocket I have questions

A receipt for 120 chicken breasts totaling $418.80

blair@blairaf· Mar 25

actually burst out laughing when I saw the author bios

Washington Post oped entitled "Halting data center construction will entrench inequality"

The oped authors are Palantir's head of AI implementation and head of government affairs

blair@blairaf· Mar 11

Angry audit man with four pupils five eyebrows and comically oversized magnifying glass

blair@blairaf· Mar 11

Trying to find stock images for lecture slides that aren't AI slop is becoming more of a challenge - what is a "checkist"? Why aren't the checkmarks completed? Why are the checkmark blocks defying gravity? What is happening in these images?

Image of a checklist misspelled as "checkist" with half-finished checkmarks on a page on a clipboard and magnifying glass over the page

Another AI generated checklist and magnifying glass image

blair@blairaf· Mar 4

midterm mood

blair@blairaf· Mar 3

Giving a talk on collective resistance in AI governance this Friday! Come say hi in-person or drop by online using the Zoom info on this page: sites.google.com/ualberta.ca/...

Summary of talk entitled "Collective Resistance in AI Governance Systems" from the linked page

blair@blairaf· Feb 24

This talk is next Friday! Come say hi in-person at Amii HQ if you're in Edmonton, or join online using the Zoom info on this page: sites.google.com/ualberta.ca/...

Speaker
Dr. Blair Attard-Frost, Amii Fellow & Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of Alberta

Title
Collective Resistance in AI Governance Systems

Abstract The governance of AI has become a strategic imperative for government and industry. However, communities and workers who are vulnerable to societal impacts of AI are often pushed to the margins of policymaking, regulatory development, and other AI governance initiatives. How do marginalized groups oppose AI governance when it fails to serve their interests?

This talk will address that question by drawing on sociological theory, empirical data from my research, and lessons learned from real-world cases of collective organizing against AI governance initiatives in Canada. I will show: (1) AI governance is a social system co-created by interdependent networks of actors, resources, logics, and power structures; (2) collective resistance emerges in AI governance systems as a response to resource constraints and structural injustices; (3) communities use a variety of organizational strategies to resist top-down AI governance systems led by industry and state power, while also building smaller-scale governance systems from the bottom up.

Presenter Bio Blair Attard-Frost is an Amii Fellow and Assistant Professor in the University of Alberta's Department of Political Science. She completed her PhD in Information Studies, Master of Information (MI), and Honours Bachelor of Arts (HBA) at University of Toronto. Blair's research applies a trans feminist lens to address challenges of power, participation, and justice in the governance of artificial intelligence. Her recent research appears in academic journals such as Big Data & Society, Government Information Quarterly, and AI and Ethics. Her insights on AI governance are featured in Canadian and international outlets such as CBC News: The National, The Globe and Mail, The Walrus, BetaKit, and Tech Policy Press. In a bygone era, Blair worked on digital tr…

blair@blairaf· Feb 23

Week 7 is infrastructure week where we learn how to resist data centres

Title slide entitled "Infrastructure - chips, hardware, data centres"

Slide entitled "What is infrastructure?"

Slide entitled "the politics of AI supply chains"

blair@blairaf· Feb 23

snowy work from home day with this cozy creature

Huxley the dog has black brown and white fur and big ears and is curled up on a big fuzzy pink lounge chair

blair@blairaf· Feb 21

👁️👃👁️