The inaugural cohort of students enrolled in Trent Durham's Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science in Artificial Intelligence (AI) programs have officially wrapped their first year of study. Launched in 2025, the new degrees are preparing students for contributing to responsible AI development and adoption as a critical time in this era of technological advancement.  

As AI tools and systems rapidly reshape how people work, learn, communicate, and make decisions, Canada has announced its ‘AI for All’ national strategy that aims to support job creation, AI adoption and commercialization, and public trust. The Council of Ontario Universities also released a report based on the work of an AI Task Force, emphasizing the role of universities in navigating the ethical, legal, and societal questions that accompany AI systems.  

These are the questions that drew first-year AI Arts student Krina Vyas to the program.  

“Previous to starting at university, I heard people asking ‘what can AI do?’ rather than what it should or should not do, and who has the agency to make those decisions,” said Krina.

“My peers and I get to be at the forefront of asking these difficult questions.”  

AI Alongside Philosophy

Philosophical critical thinking related to AI is taking place both in the classroom and through applied learning and research at Trent Durham. This spring, the campus hosted its inaugural AI Conference, bringing together students and faculty from Artificial Intelligence, Philosophy, and Computer Science programs to explore topics of machine consciousness, neurodivergence, ethics and governance. 

Krina, who received the Bruce Barrett Prize for being the top student in a first-year philosophy course, presented at the conference, discussing the relationship between artificial intelligence and human beings, arguing that comparisons between the two often overlook important differences in intention, accountability, and judgment. 

“In my philosophy courses, I learned to justify theories and ideas about accountability, as well as values, intentions and underlying biases behind our reasoning. This sharpened my critical thinking as well as how I view the world today,” she said. 

In total, eight undergraduate students presented distinct perspectives at the conference. Among them was B.Sc. AI student Sham Alkarak, who examined the use of AI in forensic statement and crime scene analysis, raising questions about bias, transparency, and the role of human judgment in law enforcement. 

“AI is not about producing answers for humans,” says Sham. “It is also about understanding the data, the method, the limitations, and the responsibility behind that answer.” 

For Dr. James Connelly, coordinator of Trent's AI programs, the conference highlighted the University's interdisciplinary approach to artificial intelligence. 

“Within and across presentations, students demonstrated clearly that AI involves both technical knowledge and human-centred perspectives, particularly when looking at how technology influences society,” he said. 

From Campus to National Conversations

The same questions students are exploring at Trent Durham are also shaping discussions about artificial intelligence across Canada.  

Philosophy professor Dr. Martina Orlandi, who teaches in the AI programs, co-founded the Canadian Association for the Philosophy of Artificial Intelligence (CAPAI), the first organization of its kind in Canada. The association brings together scholars examining foundational questions about intelligence, cognition, and decision-making, as well as AI’s impact on the human condition. CAPAI hosted its inaugural conference this spring in Montreal at McGill University, at which Professor Orlandi spoke to her area of expertise on AI ethics, moral psychology and broader implications for human flourishing. Her presentation made a case for the value of challenge and struggle in human lives.  

“In the long run, if we let machines think for us, we’re going to be left less satisfied,” said Prof. Orlandi in an episode of Making Strides this year.

“AI gives us a shortcut, but what it doesn’t give us is effort. When performing and completing a task, [effort] is something that we value.” 

Building Trust in Personalized AI Tools

Students at Trent Durham are also engaged in the technological development of AI systems, focused on making them more transparent, trustworthy, and secure.  

Working with Computer Science professor Dr. Alaa Alslaity, one undergraduate student is analyzing more than 146,000 reviews of large language model (LLM) mobile applications to better understand what drives user trust, satisfaction, and frustration. The findings can help inform the design of AI systems to be more transparent and responsive to users, particularly as AI becomes increasingly embedded in personalized recommendations and decision-making tools. 

“We, as computer scientists, need to understand human behaviour to inform the personalization experience with AI systems,” said Prof. Alslaity, whose research also examines how AI influences user behaviour across areas such as education, healthcare, and sustainability. “How the system arrives at a recommendation, both technically and ethically are angles we are investigating.” 

Protecting Critical Infrastructure

Under the supervision of Computer Science professor Dr. Makhduma Saiyed, ten students are gaining hands-on experience in cybersecurity and other critical infrastructure systems. Professor Saiyed’s lab includes seven undergraduate students from Artificial Intelligence and Computer Science programs, along with three Computer Science graduate students, working in a new area of explainable AI. 

“Our world is increasingly digital, and cybersecurity is how we monitor and defend against attacks. The work we are doing is aligned with Canada’s goals to enhance cybersecurity and vulnerability detections and aims to be applicable to security countrywide,” said Prof. Saiyed. “One of the things we are creating is a novel data set that can provide the intent behind the cyberattacks.

"Current datasets have benign and attack labels, but this research is generating one more label in the dataset: intent.” 

AI tools that help network administrators understand why an activity was flagged and its intent provide an additional layer of reasoning, making decisions easier to understand and trust. 

“Instead of AI and LLM processing being a black box just giving you an answer, the explainable AI means the system is built to tell you why it gave you that answer,” said Prof. Alslaity. 

AI in the real world  

At Trent, the emphasis on responsible AI extends beyond campus into the community. Students in the AI Science program completed the first capstone course this past year, working alongside local organizations exploring AI-driven and machine learning information systems, deep learning and neural network info systems, as well as natural language processing. 

“The goal is to help students develop AI tools that can be applied anywhere, to real-world challenges,” said Prof. Connelly.  

Students in the B.A. AI program will complete their first capstone project in the 2026/27 academic year as part of a collaboration with TeachingCity Oshawa. Students will evaluate the ethical, legal, and policy implications of AI initiatives and develop strategies to address potential risks and harms. 

Looking Ahead

As the degree programs enter their second year, new opportunities are on the horizon. A new AI Exploration Lab is set to open in 2026, providing undergraduate and graduate students with access to high-performance workstations capable of running advanced machine learning models, LLMs, and large-scale data analysis that is difficult to do on a personal computer.  

“Any student working in the AI space needs to do data analysis,” said Prof. Saiyed. “This means working with large datasets and computationally intensive models. This lab will make it easier for them to do that and accelerate both their research and career development.” 

Alongside measures to protect teaching and critical thinking, students will also deepen their understanding of responsible AI through a new course, AI Ethics, Law and Governance. The course will examine the legal, ethical, and societal implications of AI across sectors ranging from healthcare and education to media, finance, and public policy.  

As AI becomes both a national priority and more embedded in everyday life, Trent Durham students are learning how these technologies work, how they are deployed and how to shape the direction of AI towards greater transparency, public trust and safety. 

Learn more about Artificial Intelligence at Trent.