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Join DarwinAI CEO Sheldon Fernandez (BASc 2001, Computer Engineering) for this timely talk on misinformation in the digital age. Pizza lunch will be provided at 12:15pm, with the talk following at 12:30pm. All students, alumni, staff and faculty are welcome to register for this free event using the registration link below.
Talk
Summary
“Communication has been weaponized, used to provoke, mislead and influence the public in numerous insidious ways. Disinformation was just the first stage of an evolving trend of using information to subvert democracy, confuse rival states, define the narrative and control public opinion.
Using large, unregulated, open environments that tech companies once promised would “empower” ordinary people, disinformation has spread rapidly across the globe. The power that tech companies offered us has become a priceless tool in propagandists’ hands, who were right in thinking that a confused, rapidly globalising world is more vulnerable to the malleable beast of disinformation than straightforward propaganda. Whatever we do, however many fact-checking initiatives we undertake, disinformation shows no sign of abating. It just mutates.”1
During this talk our speaker, Sheldon Fernandez, CEO of DarwinAI, will explore the role of Artificial Intelligence in weaponizing information. Irrespective of your ideological sensitivities, the scope and power of the technologies you use every day may surprise you.
Sheldon, who received the University of Waterloo's Faculty of Engineering Young Alumni Achievement Medal for his professional and humanitarian endeavors, has substantial experience in this area, having spent time on the ground in Kenya after the country’s tumultuous election in 2007. He also obtained a Master’s degree in theology at the University of Toronto and underwent professional training at the Montreal Institute for Genocide Studies at Concordia University.
Sheldon Fernandez Bio
Sheldon
Fernandez
is
the
CEO
of DarwinAI,
a
local
venture
commercializing
IP
from
Professor
Alexander
Wong
and
his
academic
team.
Darwin’s
unique
technology
facilities
edge
and
explainable
AI
and
is
being
leveraged
in
numerous
industries
including
autonomous
vehicles,
consumer
electronics,
and
aerospace.
Throughout his career, Sheldon has coupled his entrepreneurial endeavors with non-technical pursuits, resulting in an interdisciplinary approach that is critical to the intelligent application of AI. He received the University of Waterloo's Faculty of Engineering Young Alumni Achievement Medal for his professional and humanitarian endeavors and has substantial experience in this area, having spent time on the ground in Kenya after the country’s tumultuous election in 2007. He also obtained a Master’s degree in theology at the University of Toronto and underwent professional training at the Montreal Institute for Genocide Studies at Concordia University.