A Transformative Lecture Series
Charting The Future Of Artificial Intelligence
PRESENTING PARTNER
FOUNDING PARTNERS
EVENING SPONSOR
NOVEMBER 9–11, 2026 · 6:00–7:30 P.M. · DOORS OPEN 5:30 P.M. · JOHN W. H. BASSETT THEATRE · TORONTO
The Hinton Lectures are ticketed. Each night requires its own ticket. Online registration only; no tickets will be sold at the door.
All times Eastern (Toronto).
6pm – 7:30pm
6pm
–7:30pm
Doors Open 5:30 p.m.
The opening lecture examines AI alignment through the evidence we have today: where existing approaches appear to be working, where they are falling short and what remains unresolved.
J.W.H. Bassett Theatre · Public lecture
Professor Geoffrey Hinton
Paul Christiano
Sínead BovellAll times Eastern (Toronto).
6pm – 7:30pm
6pm
–7:30pm
Doors Open 5:30 p.m.
The second lecture turns to oversight and the challenge of maintaining meaningful control as AI systems become increasingly capable and able to improve their own performance.
J.W.H. Bassett Theatre
Professor Geoffrey HintonPaul ChristianoSínead BovellAll times Eastern (Toronto).
6pm – 7:30pm
6pm
–7:30pm
Doors Open 5:30 p.m.
The final lecture examines coordination and governance, asking what will be required to manage transformative AI responsibly as its capabilities and implications extend beyond any single organization or institution.
J.W.H. Bassett Theatre
Professor Geoffrey HintonPaul ChristianoSínead BovellSPEAKERS
HOST
Nobel laureate in Physics, 2024
Considered the "Godfather of AI," Geoffrey Hinton is a distinguished British-Canadian computer scientist and cognitive psychologist celebrated for his groundbreaking work in artificial neural networks. He has held pivotal roles at Google and the University of Toronto, with over 800,000 citations and collaborations with the most influential minds in AI. In 2024, Professor Hinton was awarded a Nobel Prize in Physics. His career continues to be a relentless pursuit of innovation and excellence in the field. Professor Hinton is a co-founder of the AI Safety Foundation (host of The Hinton Lectures), where he also serves on the Nominating Committee for the annual lecture series alongside Beth Barnes, Founder & CEO of METR; Roger Grosse, Schwartz Reisman Chair in Technology and Society; and, Shane Legg, co-founder and Chief AGI Scientist at Google DeepMind.
LECTURER
Executive Director and Founder, Alignment Research Center
Paul Christiano is a researcher in AI alignment who has led teams across industry, government and civil society. He is the founder and executive director of the Alignment Research Center, where he leads research on white-box analysis of neural networks. He was previously the technical director of the US AI Safety Institute, focused on building technical capacity for AI evaluation within the U.S. government. Before that he was an early researcher at OpenAI, where he developed reinforcement learning from human feedback and led a team scaling it up to production environments. He has been writing and speaking about alignment for more than a decade and received his PhD from UC Berkeley. On September 9, 2026 Paul also joined the OpenAI Foundation Board and the Safety and Security Committee (SSC) of the OpenAI Foundation.
MODERATOR
Strategic Foresight Advisor and Founder, WAYE
Sínead Bovell is a futurist and strategic foresight advisor whose work examines how emerging technologies reshape the systems and institutions that underpin society. She advises senior leaders across business, government and multilateral institutions on making anticipatory decisions that strengthen institutional and societal resilience. Through her writing and public talks, podcast I’ve Got Questions, and technology education initiative WAYE, she works to broaden public understanding of technological change and its implications for society. Sínead is a 14-time speaker at the United Nations and has delivered keynotes and formal addresses to presidents, royalty, NATO and Fortune 500 leaders on the societal and strategic implications of emerging technologies.
NOMINATING COMMITTEE
This distinguished group of Nobel laureates, pioneering researchers and executives are shaping the future of artificial intelligence through their groundbreaking work at leading institutions and organizations. Their collective expertise in AI development, safety research and technology governance ensures that each year's lecture series features speakers who represent the most important and impactful voices in the field.
2025
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NOVEMBER 10, 11 & 12 · 5:45–7:15 P.M. EST · JOHN W. H. BASSETT THEATRE, TORONTO
Owain Evans is a leading machine learning researcher specializing in AI alignment and AGI risk. His current work focuses on emergent misalignment, deception, and situational awareness in advanced AI systems.
He is the founder of Truthful AI, a research non-profit based in Berkeley, and an affiliate of the Center for Human-Compatible AI at UC Berkeley. Previously, he conducted alignment research at the University of Oxford and earned his PhD at MIT.
His work has been featured in the Economist, BBC News, and the Financial Times. He has served as an advisor to nonprofits and foundations in the AI Safety space. A frequent speaker at major academic and industry events, he has presented at over 20 conferences and is recognized for his expertise and leadership in the field of AI safety.
In 2026, Owain was named to TIME's list of the 100 most influential people in AI.
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Night 1
AI Agents: Risks and Opportunities
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Night 2
AIs Behaving Badly
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Night 3
Reading the Thoughts of AIs / Language Models
2024
Assistant Professor, UC Berkeley & Founder of Transluce
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Night 1
Emerging Challenges in AI: Breakthroughs and Risks for the Next Decade
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Night 2
AI in Society: Markets, Misuse, Managers, and Memes
OUR MISSION
The AI Safety Foundation (AISF) is a registered charity based in Canada. We are supported by generous individuals, corporations and partners. If you believe, like we do, that education and research initiatives exploring AI risks are vitally important, please consider supporting us in our mission.
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