Brief description of the organization
The Provocation Ideas Festival is a public-facing initiative focused on sparking dialogue, creativity, and action on the future of cities, climate, and society. Through curated events, exhibitions, and partnerships, the festival creates space for visionary thinking, artistic engagement, and community-driven exploration of the most urgent questions facing our shared future.
Problem area
How can artificial intelligence be used as a catalyst for expansive, inclusive, and creative storytelling that reflects the diverse lived experiences of Toronto’s communities—while navigating issues of data privacy, technological infrastructure, and ethical public engagement? How can this project help cities reimagine themselves and foster deeper civic connection in the post-pandemic era?
Scope of work
- Designing and developing the foundational database for community-contributed stories, with strong privacy and licensing protocols.
- Creating the AI interface architecture, including potential use of large language models for co-authorship and interaction.
- Building secure, transparent mechanisms for data collection, storage, and usage.
- Developing an open-access platform where the “novel” can evolve and be explored publicly.
- Testing and refining the storytelling interface to balance technological capability and human creativity.
- Documenting the process and learnings to support scalability and replication in other cities
Deliverables
Indicate what kind of deliverables/activities might be relevant, both for problem definition and solution verification and validation. Some examples might include:
- A prototype digital infrastructure (database + interface) for collecting and engaging with public stories.
- A documented methodology for anonymized, ethical data gathering and usage.
- A report outlining system architecture, privacy safeguards, and ethical guidelines.
- Public-facing materials (e.g., digital exhibits) to showcase the project and invite feedback
Skills and training required
- Human-centred design and user interface development
- AI and natural language processing (especially large language models)
- Data ethics, privacy, and digital security
- Community engagement and qualitative research
- Writing/storytelling/editing
- UX research and prototyping
- Project management and documentation
Resources required
- Faculty expertise in urban planning, digital humanities, ethics, and AI
- Access to computing infrastructure and data security resources
- Student research teams and technical labs
- Provocation Ideas Festival platform for public engagement
- Connections with arts and cultural networks
- Event and exhibition space for showcases and dialogues