The Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences invites you to their upcoming Healthy Cities event.
WHEN: Monday, February 9, 2026 from 6:30 pm to 9:00 pm
WHERE: Carleton Dominion Chalmers Centre at 290 Lisgar Street
As our day-to-day interactions with AI become increasingly more frequent and complex, artificial systems are beginning to occupy roles that once belonged only to other humans. This panel explores what it means to relate to AI socially: whether social connections with artificial systems can be genuine, what might be missing if they are not, and how these interactions may reshape human expectations of companionship, care, and trust. Along the way, the discussion will situate these questions within a broader examination of what today’s AI systems can and cannot do, and what the future trajectory of AI might look like.
This panel discussion will feature Carleton faculty Dr. Mary Kelly and Dr. Jim Davies (Cognitive Science), Dr. Kathleen Fraser (University of Ottawa), and Dr. Ada Hoffmann (science fiction author). Dr. Ada Hoffmann’s latest book, Ignore All Previous Instructions, will be available for pre-order.
