The Council of Ontario Universities (COU) has released its AI Task Force report, Charting a Path Forward for Ontario Universities in the Age of AI, a coordinated, sector-wide effort to guiding the responsible, inclusive and strategic adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) and to help position Ontario for long-term success.
The report, developed by the COU AI Task Force, strategically positions Ontario’s universities as essential partners in supporting the development of talent, advancing research, informing policy and modelling responsible adoption in AI.
OCAD U’s Interim Executive Director of IT Services Andrew McAllister was a member on the task force, as the small institution designate. The task force was established to guide Ontario’s universities in the strategic, safe and ethical integration of AI across teaching, research and institutional operations.
“AI is advancing at an unprecedented pace, reshaping industries and redefining work, especially in the creative industries. That is why this report is so timely, it demonstrates how Ontario’s universities, including OCAD University, can continue to lead the way in the responsible adoption of AI across teaching, research and institutional operations,” says OCAD U President and Vice-Chancellor Ana Serrano.
The reports presents recommendations for the federal and Ontario governments as well as for Ontario's universities:
Federal government: Invest in secure, sovereign AI research infrastructure; strengthen sustained support for AI research talent; support workforce readiness through AI related skills development and lifelong learning; and accelerate domestic AI commercialization and IP retention.
Ontario government: Support AI adaptation by strengthening provincial leadership in scaling made‑in‑Ontario AI solutions; enable shared procurement models; invest in sovereign and sustainable Ontario‑based AI infrastructure; advance workforce development; and support sector-wide AI adaptation.
Ontario’s universities: Build AI literacy and embed competencies across learning; adapt teaching, assessment and research for AI‑enabled practice; strengthen secure infrastructure and human oversight; expand flexible learning and workforce pathways; collaborate on shared platforms and services; advance institutional leadership; steward trusted knowledge and public trust; enhance sustainable AI infrastructure; and deepen global partnerships.
AI AT OCAD UNIVERSITY
At OCAD U, several initiatives are underway to support faculty in undertaking AI-focused pedagogical and curricular innovation and research. This includes the new AI Teaching and Learning Innovation Grant Program, which is grounded in OCAD U’s Statement on the Use of Generative AI. This new program supports faculty members in designing, piloting and assessing new pedagogical and curricular approaches to AI in art and design education.
This spring, the University launched the AI Exploration Lab, offering a series of monthly workshops for faculty and staff to explore the use of artificial intelligence tools in art, design and pedagogy. The goal of the lab is to co-create critical AI literacy by identifying best practices and promising use cases, as well as exploring the ethical considerations specific to OCAD U’s art and design educational environment.
Additional opportunities are being held to encourage discussions among faculty, staff and students on the rise of generative AI (GAI), addressing key questions, challenges and opportunities. This includes two AI-focused panels at the University’s recent Teaching Expo day.
Many faculty members continue to incorporate GAI in their courses, such as Professor Alex Manu who developed the specific course, Generative AI Futures, rooted in a longer historical awareness of the impact of technological advances.
“Since the early 1980s, I have witnessed successive technological inflections. The introduction of computers, followed by computer-aided design and manufacturing, marked a point of no return for the discipline. Later, advanced visualization software such as Alias further expanded the designer’s capacity to render and simulate. Each of these moments required adaptation, not as a matter of preference, but as a matter of relevance,” explains Manu, whose new book, You Were Never Just Using It: How Technology Rewrote the Self, One Click at a Time, is being launched at OCAD U on June 2.
“To resist such shifts is to risk preparing students for a future that no longer exists. Today’s graduates enter a landscape where familiarity with these systems is not optional. It is expected. Encouraging their use is therefore not an imposition but a responsibility,” says Manu.
Given the impact of AI on the design field and within design education and research, Assistant Professor Dr. Lori Riva says it was an important and relevant topic to incorporate in her course, Contemporary Design Theories and Practices, for second-year students from all disciplines. Her goal was to integrate critical AI literacy into the classroom experience.
“Students are given opportunities to think critically about how we implement these tools responsibly and being aware of the impacts of its usage. Another approach I use is to focus on observation and the slower processes of analysis and research. I maintain that adopting these approaches instills more critical attitudes as to why and how to take up these tools,” she says.
