Blair Attard-Frost

Curriculum Vitae

Education

PhD, Information Studies – University of Toronto (2019 – Present, supervised by Professor Kelly Lyons)

Master of Information (MI), Knowledge Management & Information Management – University of Toronto (2014 – 2016)

Honours Bachelor of Arts (HBA), English specialist, Writing & Rhetoric minor – University of Toronto (2007 – 2014)

Honours & Awards

2021-2024: Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarship – Doctoral

2021-2022: Ontario Graduate Scholarship (Declined offer of award)

2020-2021 & 2019-2020: Ontario Graduate Scholarship

2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, & 2019: Faculty of Information Excellence Award

2016: Ontario Library Association Anniversary Prize

2016: Letter of Achievement – Beta Phi Mu, the International Library and Information Studies Honor Society

2015: ARMA Toronto Chapter Award

2014: Samuel James Stubbs Award

2014 & 2010: Norma Epstein Foundation Award in Creative Writing

Work Experience

Visit me on LinkedIn for more details about my work experience.

Course Instructor, University of Toronto Faculty Information, Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy

  • Spring 2024 – INF1005: Artificial Intelligence Policy
  • Spring 2024 – PPG2016: Ethics & Governance of Artificial Intelligence in Public Policy

Teaching Assistant, University of Toronto Faculty of Information

  • Fall 2022 – INF2176: Information Management in Organizations – Models & Platforms
  • Spring 2022 – INF2210: Human Values in Data Science
  • Fall 2019 – INF1003: Information Systems, Services, & Design

Research Assistant, University of Toronto Faculty of Information – SSHRC-funded Seeking and Avoiding Information in a Risky World Project with Professor Chun Wei Choo (2020-2021)

Strategic Advisor, ResearchAI (2019)

National Director, ResearchAI (2019)

Research & Information Strategy Associate, Toronto Metropolitan University (2018-2019)

Digital Transformation Consultant, freelance (2017-2018)

Freedom of Information Analyst, Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Conservation, and Parks (2016-2017)

Information Management Intern, Legislative Assembly of Ontario (2016)

Research Intern, Institute for Citizen-Centred Service (2015)

Publications

Working Papers
  • Attard-Frost, B. & Hayes, H. A. (2023). Valuing value chains: On Canadian AI regulation, co-governance, and the scope of AI value chains. Available on SSRN.
  • Attard-Frost, B. & Widder, D. G. (2023). The ethics of AI value chains. Available on arXiv.
  • Attard-Frost, B., Brandusescu, A., & Lyons, K. (2023). The governance of artificial intelligence in Canada: Findings and opportunities from a review of 84 AI governance initiatives. Available on SSRN.
Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles
  • Attard-Frost, B., De los Ríos, A., & Walters, D. R. (2023). The ethics of AI business practices: A review of 47 AI ethics guidelines. AI and Ethics, 3, 389-406.
  • Frost, R B. (2020). Emerging national artificial intelligence innovation systems in Canada and China: Strategic governance and institutional evolution. SPACES Online: Spatial Aspects Concerning Economic Structures, 16(1).
  • Frost, R. & Lyons, K. (2017). Service systems analysis methods and components: A systematic literature review. Service Science, 9(3), 219-234.
  • Frost, R. B. & Choo, C. W. (2017). Revisiting the information audit: A systematic literature review and synthesis. International Journal of Information Management, 37(1), 1380-1390.
Peer-Reviewed Book Chapters
  • Attard-Frost, B. (2023). Queering intelligence: A theory of intelligence as performance and a critique of individual and artificial intelligence. In M. Klipphahn-Karge, A.-K. Koster, & S. Morais dos Santos Bruss (Eds.), Queer Reflections on AI: Uncertain Intelligences (137-158). Routledge.
  • Attard-Frost, B. (2022). Public service, public-as-a-service, and public self-service: The case of Sidewalk Toronto. In A. Brandusescu & J. Reia (Eds.), AI in the City: Building Civic Engagement and Public Trust. (42-44). Centre for Interdisciplinary Research on Montreal, McGill University
  • Frost, R. B., Cheng, M., & Lyons, K. (2019). A multilayer framework for service system analysis. In P. P. Maglio, C. A. Kieliszewski, J. C. Spohrer, K. Lyons, L. Patricio, & Y. Sawatani (Eds.), Handbook of Service Science, Volume II (285-306). Springer.
Reports, Briefs, & White Papers
  • Attard-Frost, B., Brandusescu, A., & Sieber, R. (2023, November 6). Comments on “Guide on the use of Generative AI”.
  • Attard-Frost, B. (2022, September 6). Comments on “Canadian Guardrails for Generative AI – Code of Practice”.
  • Attard-Frost, B. (2023, June 5). Generative AI systems: Impacts on artists & creators and related gaps in the Artificial Intelligence and Data Act.  Brief submitted to the Parliament of Canada Standing Committee on Industry and Technology. Available on OurCommons.ca.
  • Attard-Frost, B. (2022, September 22). Comments on the 3rd Review of the Directive on Automated Decision-making.
  • Bower, C. & Frost, R. (2018). Employment Sector Council’s Common Assessment Process: A case study of a collaborative community approach to service delivery, access, and excellence. Toronto: Ontario Centre for Workforce Innovation.
  • Bailey, S. K. & Frost, R. (2018). Intergenerational healing and growth: A case study of the Aboriginal Skills Advancement Program. Toronto: Ontario Centre for Workforce Innovation.
In the News
  • Hemmadi, M. (2023, October 30). Digital rights advocates say Ottawa’s AI law still needs work – or a do-over. The Logic. (Author requested and published my comments on Canada’s proposed AI legislation).
  • Galea, I. (2023, September 27). Canadian tech companies sign on to AI code of conduct as law evolves. The Globe and Mail. (Author requested and published my comments on Canadian AI policy).
  • Samuel, S. (2023, August 29). Drawing a line. This Magazine. (Author requested and published my comments on the ethics of AI art).
  • Blome, T. (2023, February 27). ChatGPT und Bard: Search Wars, Episode zwei. Der Freitag. (Author requested and published my comments on AI ethics & regulation).
  • CBC News: The National (2022, December 11). Ethical concerns about popular AI-generated art portraits. CBC News. (Interviewed as part of a story about the ethics of AI art).
  • Balakrishnan, A. (2022, November 24). The Vector Institute at five. The Logic. (Author requested and published my comments on Canada’s AI governance approach).
  • Weaver, J. (2022, October 22). Technology has upended how art is created and consumed. Is that a good thing? CBC News. (Author requested and published my comments on the ethics and regulation of AI art).
  • Attard-Frost, B. (2022, February 21). Once a promising leader, Canada’s artificial-intelligence strategy is now a fragmented laggard. The Globe and Mail.

Presentations

Academic Conferences
  • Attard-Frost, B. (2023, May 23-24). The ontological crisis in artificial intelligence: Normative positions, interpretive frames, & future directions. (un)Stable Diffusions Symposium. Concordia University.
  • Attard-Frost, B. (2022, June 16-17). The new ontologies of AI: A dilemma for AI governance. Hype, Hyper, or Over-hyped? A Student Symposium on Critical AI Studies in Canada, Concordia University.
  • Attard-Frost, B. (2022, June 16-17). The new ontologies of AI: A dilemma for AI governance. Hype, Hyper, or Over-hyped? A Student Symposium on Critical AI Studies in Canada, Concordia University.
  • Frost, R B. (2021, June 21-22). Intelligence as performance. Queer AI: On the Coming Out of Smart Machines, Technische Universität Dresden.
  • Frost, R B. (2020, October 22). AI governance systems: Ontological explorations in the Canadian context. CAIS 2020, Canadian Association for Information Science.
  • Frost, R. B., De los Rios, A. F., & Walters, D. R. (2020, July 27-28). Business practices and political economy in the AI ethics literature. EI4AI: Ethical Innovation for Artificial Intelligence, University of Toronto and University College London.
  • Frost, R. B. (2020, June 2-5). Mystical boxes, mechanical horrors, and crises of control: A history of AI governance. Canadian Communication Association Conference, London, ON. (Conference cancelled due to COVID-19)
  • Frost, R. B. (2020, April 30-May 2). The queer æffects of information. “What is Information?” Conference, University of Oregon, Portland, OR, United States. (Unable to attend due to COVID-19)
  • Frost, R. (2016, March 18 – 19). iVal: An information evaluation framework for knowledge workers. 2016 iSchool Student Conference, University of Toronto. Proceedings published in The iJournal, 1(2).
Invited Panels, Talks, & Guest Lectures
  • Attard-Frost, B. (2023, November 14). Framework design for AI governance research. INF3003: Research in Information: Frameworks and Design. University of Toronto Faculty of Information, course instructor Dr. Leslie Shade.
  • Attard-Frost, B. (2023, October 3). The governance of AI systems. INF2240: Political Economy and Cultural Studies of Information. University of Toronto Faculty of Information, course instructor Dr. Rafael Grohmann.
  • Vincent, M., Running Wolf, M., Çetin, R. B., & Attard-Frost, B. (2023, August 23). Panel on “Resisting unstable diffusions: Art and the governance of AI.” MUTEK Forum 2023: Future Currents. MUTEK Festival, Montreal.
  • Attard-Frost, B. (2023, August 2). The ethics of AI value chains: Implications for policy, practice, & HR. REI6615: Digital HR. Université de Montréal School of Industrial Relations, course instructor Dr. Pamela Lirio.
  • Attard-Frost, B., Balakrishnan, A., Bednar, V., Kelln, R., & Upshur, R. (2023, May 20). Panel on “The promise and perils of AI”. Provocation Ideas Festival.
  • Attard-Frost, B. (2022, April 26). Research ethics planning as reflective practice. Government of Canada Research Ethics Community of Practice.
  • Phan, M., Treviranus, J., & Attard-Frost, B. (2023, May 5). Data equity panel. GO Open Data Conference 2023 (GOOD23): Bridging the Open Divide. GO Open Data Association.
  • Attard-Frost, B. (2023, February 28 & March 1). Moral dilemmas in data science. INF2210: Human Values in Data Science. University of Toronto Faculty of Information, course instructors Dr. Seamus Ross & Dr. Tegan Maharaj.
  • Attard-Frost, B. (2022, December 6). The ethics of AI value chains: Implications for policy & practice. AI Ethics Speaker Series. Canada Revenue Agency: Research & Innovation Lab Directorate.
  • Attard-Frost, B. (2022, March 2). Moral dilemmas in data science. INF2210: Human Values in Data Science. University of Toronto Faculty of Information, course instructors Dr. Seamus Ross & Yolanda Zhang.
  • Frost, R. B. (2017, July 6). Information problem identification & information audits. INF2306: Designing for Knowledge Work. University of Toronto Faculty of Information, course instructor Dr. Colin Furness.
Policy Workshops
  • Attard-Frost, B. (2022, November 16). The ethics of AI value chains: Implications for gender equality and the environment. Roundtable on Gender Equality in Digital Economies and the Environment. AI on a Social Mission 2022.
  • Attard-Frost, B. (2022, October 19). AI governance and worker protections in Canada. Workshop: Proposal for an ILO Policy Observatory on Work in the Digital Economy. International Labour Organization.

Service & Activities

Research Advisory Board Member, AI and the Future of Post-Secondary Education. The Conference Board of Canada (October 2023 – Present)

Roundtable Participant, Joint Multi-stakeholder Roundtable on the Artificial Intelligence and Data Act, Toronto Metropolitan University, The Dais, and Centre for Media, Technology, & Democracy (October 10, 2023)

Workshop Participant, Examining Approaches to Worker Led Governance of Data and AI Technologies, CIFAR (August 16-17, 2023)

Mentor, iSchool Research Mentorship Program (2021 – 2022)

Workshop Co-organizer, “How has COVID-19 changed the development and adoption of data science across firms and industries?” at IBM EVOKE x CASCON 2020 (November 10-13, 2020)

Conference Co-organizer, EI4AI: Ethical Innovation for Artificial Intelligence, University of Toronto and University College London (July 27-28, 2020)

Co-convener, The Ends of the Worlds reading group at the McLuhan Centre for Culture and Technology (2020 – 2021)

Editor-in-Chief, The iJournal (2015 – 2016)

Associate Editor, IDIOM: English Undergraduate Academic Journal (2013 – 2014)

Associate Editor, University College Review (2012 – 2013)

Member of Beta Phi Mu, the International Library and Information Studies Honor Society

Certificates

Customer Development – MaRS Discovery District (2019)

Exploratory Data Analysis – Johns Hopkins University (2015)

Getting and Cleaning Data – Johns Hopkins University (2015)

 

Last updated November 15, 2023