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Big Tech, Big Questions: Who Are We in a Data Driven World?
September 15 at 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Do you think you’re in control of your digital life? Every click, search, and scroll tells a story—and that story is becoming data.
As data-intensive platforms become ever more embedded in our lives, they are doing more than making things convenient—they are reshaping how we think about ourselves and the world around us. In this talk, Professor Wendy Wong unpacks what “Big Tech” really means and why it matters.
Looking beyond artificial intelligence as a standalone issue, she explores the broader process of datafication—how our actions, preferences, and even values are turned into data. The result challenges some of our most fundamental assumptions about human autonomy, dignity, equality, and community. What does this transformation mean for the future of humanity?
About the Speaker
Wendy Wong is a Professor of Political Science and Principal’s Research Chair at UBC Okanagan. She specializes in global governance, human rights, and the societal impacts of artificial intelligence and big data. Dr. Wong has written three award-winning books, Internal Affairs (2012) and The Authority Trap (2017), with Sarah S. Stroup. She won the 2024 Balsillie Prize for Public Policy and the 2026 ISA Human Rights Book Award for her most recent book, We, the Data: Human Rights in the Digital Age.
