Ishtiaque Ahmed

 

I am an Associate Professor of Computer Science at the University of Toronto. I serve as the Associate Director of the Knowledge Media Design Institute (KMDI). I am also an affiliated faculty at the UofT iSchool, Data Sciences Institute, School of Environment, School of Cities, Institute of Health Emergencies and Pandemics, Acceleration Consortium, and Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society. I am also a member of UofT's Research Ethics Board (REB) and UoT AI Task Force. Besides UofT, I also served the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) as the National AI Consultant for Bangladesh. I am also a member of the MIT Global Humanities Initiative. 

 

At UofT, I direct the Third Space research group at the DGP Lab. I co-organize the monthly UofT Critical Computing Seminar that hosts speakers analyzing computer science and its applications from the perspectives of marginalization, bias, and oppression. I founded and co-directed the PRISM program at the CS Department of UofT for five years, which trains students from marginalized communities for higher education in computer science. 

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My current research is focused on AI Safety, AI Governance, AI Policy, Ethical and Responsible AI design, and Human-AI Interaction. My recent work has focused on designing AI tools and services to address the large global challenges of health, sustainability, and peace in a responsible and accountable way. My research questions the ethical foundations of AI systems and explores novel ways of community-based participatory development of AI. My work is usually published in HCI venues, including CHI, CSCW, FaccT, ICTD, DIS, and COMPASS, and AI venues including ACL, EACL, ECIR, AAAI, and WWW. I was also honored to deliver keynote speeches on this topic at PDC '24 and be invited for keynote speech at EAAMO '24. I also chaired the program committees of ICTD '22 and IndiaHCI '22.

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My work has been recognized, celebrated, and supported by Microsoft AI & Society Fellowship ('24), Google Award for Inclusion Research ('23), Connaught Scholarship ('23), Facebook Faculty Research Award ('22), Schwartz Reisman Fellowship ('21), Massey Fellowship ('21), Google exploreCSR Award ('20), Youth Policy Forum Fellowship ('20), Fulbright Centennial Fellowship ('19), Global Young Academy Membership ('19), Connaught New Researcher Award ('18), Intel Technology and Society Fellowship ('15), Fulbright S&T Fellowship ('11), and OpenStreetMap Scholarship ('10). My research has also received generous support from all three divisions of Canada's federal tri-council research agency: NSERC, CIHR, and SSHRC. 

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Recent Highlights: (see all news here)

* Apr '26: Our paper for LLM-based hate speech detection has been accepted for ACL 2026!

* Mar '26: Two papers and received Best Paper Honorable Mention Awards in CHI 2026!!

* Feb '26: Six Full papers and two posters accepted in CHI 2026!!

* Feb '26: Paper on LLM and behaviour change study accepted in Nature Human Behaviour!

* Feb '26: Paper on human experience of Ontario hospitals is published in Plos Digital Health!

* Feb '26: Paper on media bias in journalistic reporting is accepted in WebSci '26!

* Feb '26: Paper on reasoning behind hate speech accepted in EACL Findings!

* Jan '26: Became the National AI Advisor for UNDP Bangladesh

* Jan '26: Lectured on AI and the Future of Business at IBA, Bangladesh

* Jan '26: Co-organized Responsible AI Seminar at IIT, DU

* Jan '26: Co-organized Responsible AI Seminar at Department of Management, NSU

* Dec '25: Attended and lectured at the AI for Global South summit at MBZUAI, UAE

* Nov '25: Panel on AI & the future of Biology at UofT

* Nov '25: New Lecture on AI Value Alignment at the Centre for Ethics [watch]

* Nov '25: Attended WELLCOME Foundation AI & Mental Health workshop in London. UK

* Oct '25: ASSETS Workshop on Accessibility research for ICTD

* Oct '25: Attended the CIFAR Canada-Taiwan joint AI Summit!

* Sept '25: Started as the Associate Director of KMDI

* Apr '25: NSERC DISCOVERY Award!

* Apr '25: Invited Talk at the Centre for Digital Transformation Health, University of Melbourne (virtual)

* Mar '25: Winner of the School of Cities "Data and Inequality" Challenge 2025!

* Mar '25: Attended CIFAR Forum for Radical Interdisciplinarity in Geneva!​​

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In Public Press:

* Jan '26: Interviewed about Responsible AI on the Jamuna Television, Bangladesh

* Jan '26: Interviewed about Responsible AI on the Bangla Vision Television, Bangladesh

* Mar '21: Interaction article, "Designing with Internally Displaced Slum Dwellers in Bangladesh"

* Sep '20: (IIE Centennial Blog): Repairing and Recycling of Digital Electronics during COVID-19

* Sep '20: Blog post (ACM Interactions): "Fighting Coronavirus with Faith"

* May '20: Op-ed (Daily Star): "COVID-19 and the economization of life in Bangladesh" 

* Apr '20: Op-ed (Prothom Alo): "করোনা মোকাবিলা: ডেটানির্ভর প্রযুক্তি ও ব্যক্তিগত তথ্য নিরাপত্তা"

* Apr '20: Talk Show Interview on Ekattor TV on COVID19. [Link]

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My full name is Syed Ishtiaque Ahmed, which I use for all formal purposes, including publications. ]