Research Seminar: Research Integrity and Artificial Intelligence: Preparing for the Worst

Funded by the Research Integrity Funding Scheme 2025-26 under the project title: “Research Integrity Beyond Forms and Rules.

Research Integrity and Artificial Intelligence: Preparing for the Worst

Professor David I. Waddington
Department of Education
Concordia University

December 2, 2026 (Wednesday)

12:45 – 14:00

Room 408-410, Meng Wah Complex, HKU

(Chair: Professor Liz Jackson)

~ Light refreshments will be served ~
 

Abstract:
Research ethics committees find themselves at an unprecedented moment with the development of AI. Challenges vary from data security, the generation of fake data, and the development of empirical research programs without the necessary background to pursue them, all of which have highly negative implications for research more generally, especially for the peer-review ecosystem. As Chair of Concordia University’s Human Research Ethics Committee, I will discuss the implications of these challenges, none of which have any convincing solution. As a scholar of the philosophy of technology, I argue that we should take the perspective of Jacques Ellul on these questions: rather than assuming that an ideal solution will be reached, we should assume that AI users will consistently maximize efficiency in the worst ways possible. Planning on this basis, I will argue, is the best way to anticipate challenges and develop regulatory solutions.

About the speaker:

David I. Waddington is a Professor in the Department of Education at Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec, who specializes in the philosophy of education. His research interests include teacher free speech, video games and citizenship, dealing with controversial issues in the classroom, and the history and philosophy of progressive education. He is the author of the recently released book, The Hidden Curriculum of Video Games, as well as the forthcoming edited volume, The Polarized Classroom.

Dr. Waddington is Co-Director of the Centre for the Study of Learning and Performance, a multi-institutional research centre that is recognized as one of Quebec's Strategic Clusters, as well as Chair of Concordia University’s Human Research Ethics Committee.
 

~ All are welcome ~