LCBEE Business Ethics Conference: Ethics and Artificial Intelligence
Annual Business Ethics Conference: Ethics and Artificial Intelligence
Organized by the Laidley Centre for Business Ethics and Equity (LCBEE).
This full-day conference will examine the role of ethics in the creation, dissemination, and implementation of artificial intelligence.
The proliferation of AI models in recent years has had far reaching impacts in almost every domain, including education, art, and, importantly, management. Paired with optimistic possibilities and environmental and social concerns, AI’s proliferation has reignited discussions about the human as a category, the yawning gap of the privilege divide, and the roles human beings will play in the global economic landscape in the coming years.
Event date: Friday, November 13st
Time: 8:45 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Location: McGill Faculty Club, Ballroom
Deadline to register: Register by 11:59 p.m. (EST) on November 9, 2026
Explore event agenda and panels
Agenda
8:45 - 9:15 – Check-in/Refreshments/Light Breakfast
9:15 - 9:25 - Opening Remarks
9:30 – 11:00 – Panel 1
11:00 – 11:15 – Break
11:15 - 12:45 –Panel 2
12:45 – 13:45 – Lunch
13:45 – 15:15 – Panel 3
15:15 – 15:25 – Closing Remarks
15:25 – 17:00 – Reception
Panel 1 - Sustainability and AI: The Environmental Cost of Intelligence
According to its supporters, AI offers the prospect of dramatically extending human capabilities whileenabling new forms of organizational and economic growth. Its critics, however, raise concerns about the practical implications of growth on an unprecedented scale: how can virtually infinite growth be sustained in a world of finite resources? Moreover, electricity, water, and critical mineral and metal usage in the service of AI enhancement and computation are hot topics, particularly in light of concerns about water scarcity and climate change. Indeed, as environmental concerns continue to dominate public discourse with respect to the sustainability of economies, organizations, and communities, the Janusfaced nature of AI proliferation looms large: AI can help uncover scientific solutions to the implications of climate change even as its use exacerbates the very problem it is deployed to solve. Panelists will explore the broader implications of AI for the health of the planet, analyzing the costs of resource depletion in light of the environmental solutions to which AI can contribute. Intrinsic to these discussions are questions about our relationship to natural systems and the role that decision-making plays in shaping a sustainable future.
Speakers
Dr. Sarah Jordaan, Associate Professor of Industrial Ecology Life Cycle Assessment, Department of Civil Engineering and the Trottier Institute for Sustainability in Engineering and Design, McGill University
Mr. Nicolas Parker, Founder, Clean AI Initiative, Parker Impact, and the Cleantech Group
Dr. Phil De Luna, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer, CURA
Dr. Elsa Vasseur, Associate Professor, Department of Animal Science, McGill University; Innovation Chair in Animal Welfare and Artificial Intelligence (WELL-E)
Moderator: Dr. Matissa Hollister, Associate Professor, Organizational Behavior; Social Initiative Coordinator, Desautels Faculty of Management McGill University
Panel 2 - Equity and AI: Data, Bias, and the Struggle for Algorithmic Inclusivity
AI is only as good as the data on which it is trained. Hundreds of AI-generated images have replicated human biases with alarming accuracy, and, at their worst, AI models have been used as tools to exploit vulnerable groups. AI, moreover, widens the privilege gap at an exponential rate. On the one hand, for instance, AI enables privileged members of the global scholarly and economic spheres to enhance their knowledge and activities in ways few had dreamed possible, creating in mere hours bodies of knowledge and business-related technologies that previously would have taken weeks, months, or even years to develop. On the other hand, members of that same global economic community who lack the foundational knowledge to recognize errors in AI outputs, or who have not had access to AI literacy education crucial to understanding the risks and drawbacks of LLMs, are vulnerable to misinformation, cognitive decline, and even unemployment. Thus, while AI holds out the promise of social and class mobility through widespread access to knowledge (the promise that Thomas L. Friedman’s 2005 The World Is Flat suggested the internet offered), it entails the inverse threat of increasing disparity between persons able to exploit AI for their benefit and persons AI will be used to exploit. Panelists will examine the who, what, where, and how of AI: who is being represented; who is being excluded; who benefits economically from these technologies; what values and assumptions are being embedded in these technologies; where their true social impact is being felt; and how AI can be used as a tool to reduce (or reignite) divisions. Ultimately, they will ask whether AI can be used to promote fairness and reduce inequities and, if so, how.
Speakers
Dr. Ife Adebara, Assistant Professor, Department of Modern Languages and Cultural Studies, University of Alberta; Fellow, Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute (Amii); Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of EqualyzAI
Mr. Renjie Butalid, Co-Founder and Director, Montreal AI Ethics Institute
Ms. Kate Arthur: Founder, Literacy & AI; Lecturer, McGill University; Author, Am I Literate? Redefining Literacy in the Age of Artificial Intelligence.
Dr. Sara Grimes: Professor, Department of Art History and Communication Studies; Wolfe Chair in Scientific and Technological Literacy, McGill University
Moderator: Dr. Warut Khern-am-nuai: Associate Professor, Information Systems, Desautels Faculty of Management; FRQ-IVADO Chair in Economics and Ethics of Artificial Intelligence, McGill University
Panel 3 - Defining "Responsible AI" in Management: Leadership and Accountability with Machine Intelligence
Since its emergence, AI has been promoted as a transformative tool for managers and organizations, promising greater efficiency, improved decision-making, and enhanced productivity. Yet the adoption of AI also raises important ethical and governance questions. When should managers rely on AI, and when should human judgment prevail? Who is accountable when AI-informed decisions cause harm or produce unintended consequences? What policies, safeguards, and oversight mechanisms are needed to ensure AI is used responsibly? Perhaps most importantly, how can such safeguards be established at a pace commensurate with that of AI enhancements, and how realistic are those safeguards anyway? This panel will examine the role of leadership in an AI-enabled world, exploring how organizations can balance innovation and efficiency with accountability, transparency, and ethical decision-making. Panelists will consider what responsible management looks like when increasingly influential decisions are supported—or even made—by artificial intelligence.
Speakers
Dr. Stefania Pecore: Director of AI Development in the Private Sector, Global AI Ethics and Governance Observatory, UNESCO
Dr. Joelle Pineau: Chief AI Officer, Cohere; Professor, School of Computer Science, McGill University
Dr. Eric Kolaczyk: Professor and Director, Computational & Data Systems Institute, McGill University
Mr. John Weigelt, National Technology Officer, Microsoft Canada
Moderator: Dr. Lindsay Holmgren: Director, Laidley Centre for Business Ethics and Equity; Associate Professor, Strategy & Organization, Desautels Faculty of Management; University AI Advisory Committee, McGill University
We are proud to announce that our event has been awarded Gold Sustainable Event certification by the McGill Sustainable Events program run by the McGill Office of Sustainability.
