The Daily UbuntuThread 02 · Technology and Dehumanization · October 4, 2026
A Seat at the Table
Ottawa has just created an expert council on artificial intelligence; earlier this year, a people's consultation reminded us that those most affected must be heard too.
1 · The scene
In the basement of a neighbourhood library, about twenty folding chairs form a circle. On the board, someone has written: "AI and us."
A delivery driver explains that an app decides his shifts. A teacher talks about assignments her students no longer write entirely on their own. An older woman, who came with her neighbour, raises her hand: "If the machine gets me wrong, who do I talk to?"
Nobody has a complete answer. But as they stack the chairs, everyone leaves with the same feeling: for once, someone asked for their opinion.
Original vignette
2 · The documented case
Who Advises, Who Is Consulted
On October 2, Prime Minister Mark Carney launched the Prime Minister's National Council on Artificial Intelligence. It has thirteen members, including two Montreal figures: AI pioneer Yoshua Bengio and Mila CEO Valérie Pisano. The council will guide Ottawa on AI adoption, research, talent and sovereign infrastructure; the prime minister added that it will also help manage the risks.
How was the federal "AI for All" strategy built? In October 2025, Ottawa held a 30-day consultation "sprint." More than 11,300 people took part; their answers were sorted with the help of AI models, then validated by humans. In an open letter, more than 160 organizations and experts criticized a task force that leaned heavily toward industry, and a timeline too short for the people most affected to take part.
Rather than only protesting, these groups launched their own People's Consultation on AI on January 21, 2026, with tools for drafting submissions together. A citizens' roundtable was scheduled in Montreal for February 25. On March 30, 65 submissions were delivered to the prime minister and his ministers: fears of job losses, calls to assess public-sector AI through a human rights lens, and for more transparency in immigration and policing.
The new council brings together valuable expertise, especially in AI safety. The question is how it will hear those these tools affect first: delivery drivers, seniors, newcomers, students. A technology that changes everyone's life is better shaped with everyone.
3 · The voice
“[…] those hardest hit often see the future first, but are the last to be heard.”
4 · The question
As machines learn to decide for us, whose rarely heard voice in our own circle should we help be heard?
Sources
- Prime Minister Carney launches new National Council on Artificial Intelligence (Prime Minister's Office, 2026, French version) www.pm.gc.ca
- Ottawa launches new national AI council to advise on safety, deployment (The Canadian Press, via Yahoo News, 2026) ca.news.yahoo.com
- Engagements on Canada's next AI Strategy: Summary of inputs (Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, 2026) ised-isde.canada.ca
- Civil Society Launches People's Consultation on AI Today (BC Civil Liberties Association, 2026) bccla.org
- People's Consultation on AI attracts 65 submissions to feds (Future of Good, 2026) futureofgood.co
- News & Updates (People's Consultation on AI, 2026) www.peoplesaiconsultation.ca
Every figure on this page links to a verifiable public source.
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