We, The Data: How to Think About AI as a Human Rights Issue

Join us on Tuesday, September 16th as Professor Wendy H. Wong delivers the 2025 Frank W. Woods Lecture.

 

Human rights are one of the major political innovations of the 20th century. Their emergence after World War II and global uptake promised a new world in which human autonomy, community, dignity, and equality could be protected. The growth of AI has introduced some new and unique challenges to human rights. The datafication of human life and the collection of data about everyday life has created a "stickiness" that we have not tackled well to date. Professor Wong argues that to be useful, the regulation of AI, and digital technologies more generally, must focus on the ubiquity of data in human life.

 

Dr. Wendy H. Wong is a Professor and Principal’s Research Chair in the Department of Economics, Philosophy and Political Science at UBC Okanagan.

 

In 2024, Dr. Wong was recognized as UBC Okanagan Researcher of the Year. A distinguished political scientist specializing in International Relations, her research encompasses global governance, technology, human rights and NGOs.

 

Her recent book, We, the Data: Human Rights in the Digital Age (MIT, 2023), merges her expertise in human rights with insights from big data and artificial intelligence (AI), advocating for digital literacy with public libraries as essential community hubs. The book has received notable recognition, including being a finalist for the 2024 Lionel Gelber Prize and highlighted by CBC’s The House and the Journal of Democracy.

 

Dr. Wong frequently contributes to media discussions on technology and societal issues. Previously, she directed the Trudeau Center for Peace, Conflict and Justice, and served as research lead at the Schwartz Reisman Institute at the University of Toronto.