We are pleased to have Nicholas Vincent from the Simon Fraser University presenting at our SFU VINCI seminar.

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Date: Wednesday, November 19, 2025

Time: 1:30 PM - 2:30 PM

Location: TASC1 9204, Burnaby campus

Zoom Link: Join via Zoom

Talk Title: A Data Flow Perspective on “AI Social Simulation”: Will Recent AI Advances Enable New Social Science, Destroy Ecosystems for Knowledge, or something More Subdued?

Abstract:
In this talk, I will connect prior work on “data leverage” (including techniques to study and support collective action via data manipulation and collective bargaining with data) and recent discussions of online communities as “content ecosystems” for AI with in-progress work exploring the use of “AI Social Simulation”.

Biography:
Prof. Nick Vincent is an Assistant Professor in Computing Science at Simon Fraser University. He studies the content ecosystems and data supply chains that fuel data-dependent technologies like search engines, recommender systems, and generative AI. This involves exploring avenues for people to control how data flow and participate in the governance of AI systems. The overarching goal of this research is to work towards highly capable and widely beneficial AI technologies that mitigate – rather than exacerbate – inequalities in wealth and power.