Host City
Designing AI Responsibly for Humans and the Earth: Safely, Sustainably, and with Sovereignty
TorCHI and Habits For a Better World
We’re at a critical moment in our history, and AI will shape whether it turns out well or badly. This talk examines where AI is heading through three lenses: safety for people, sustainability for the planet, and sovereignty over our data, choices, and tools. It closes with practical recommendations for using our individual agency, which is greater than most people realize, to change that trajectory.
Bio: Karel Vredenburg is co-founder of Habits for a Better World, a nonprofit focused on the environment, wellbeing, compassion, and responsible AI that helps people adopt habits that are good for themselves and for the planet. He is also an Industry Professor at McMaster University’s DeGroote Schools of Business and Medicine, teaching at the intersection of design, business, health, and AI. As a former Global VP at IBM, Karel led companywide design transformation efforts that put people at the centre of how technology is built, and he co-led the Future of Design Education initiative with Don Norman. Karel hosts the Life Habits Podcast, serves on the BITE and PRAXXI advisory boards, and writes at karelvredenburg.com.
Speakers
Karel Vredenburg is co-founder of Habits for a Better World, a nonprofit focused on the environment, wellbeing, compassion, and responsible AI that helps people adopt habits that are good for themselves and for the planet. He is also an Industry Professor at McMaster University’s DeGroote Schools of Business and Medicine, teaching at the intersection of design, business, health, and AI. As a former Global VP at IBM, Karel led companywide design transformation efforts that put people at the centre of how technology is built, and he co-led the Future of Design Education initiative with Don Norman. He did undergraduate, masters, and doctoral studies at the University of Toronto initially in cognitive science and clinical psychology which later led to research, specialization, and his life-long passion for, practice in, leadership in, and teaching of design and research. Karel hosts the Life Habits Podcast, serves on the BITE and PRAXXI advisory boards, and writes at karelvredenburg.com.
Event Leaders
Collaboration between TorCHI and Habits For a Better World to celebrate WUD 2026’s theme of Designing a Sustainable Future with Ethical AI
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