REGINA — The future of artificial intelligence arrived at the University of Regina on Wednesday as students, researchers, industry leaders and community members gathered for the opening day of the AI Futures event, a three-day exploration of how AI is transforming research, education and society.
Running March 11 to 13, the event brings together experts from across the province and beyond for a mix of interactive demonstrations, academic presentations and discussions about the opportunities and risks of rapidly advancing technology.
Make sure to watch our highlight video from the event.
Organizers say the goal is simple. Help people understand and shape the technology that is already influencing everything from classrooms to agriculture and business.
The event is structured around three themes. The first day focuses on hands-on exploration. The second day highlights research and education. The final day examines broader questions about ethics and society.
Hands-on discovery on day one
The opening day focused on what organizers call “Experience AI,” an interactive introduction designed to demystify artificial intelligence for people of all backgrounds.
Inside the Dr. John Archer Library and across campus spaces, visitors explored demonstrations and experimental tools showing how AI can generate images and video, assist with research, analyze data and support real-world problem solving.
For many attendees, the day offered a first look at how deeply artificial intelligence is already woven into modern life.
University of Regina educational technology expert Dr. Alec Couros said the event is meant to open the conversation not just to academics but to the wider community.
“This is really about sharing with the university community and the wider public what this AI moment means,” Couros said.
“We want people to understand how it can be creative and useful, but also how it can be disruptive in our lives. There are ethical and moral questions we have to think about as a society.”
Couros led a session exploring text-to-image and text-to-video tools, showing how artificial intelligence can help educators and students quickly create visual material that once required hours of editing and production.
“If you have an idea now, you can use natural language to create visuals or even video that supports learning in the classroom,” he said. “That’s incredibly exciting.”
But Couros said the technology also raises deeper questions about the future of education.
“We have to think about what we’re willing to automate and what should stay human,” he said. “If students can generate essays with AI and instructors grade them with AI, what does that mean for learning? These are the kinds of questions we need to talk about.”
AI beyond chatbots
One of the key messages emerging from the first day was that artificial intelligence goes far beyond popular tools like chatbots and image generators.
University of Regina AI researcher Dr. Malek Mouhoub demonstrated how machine learning is already being used in complex real-world systems.
His research includes projects that use fleets of aerial and ground robots to monitor farmland and identify clusters of weeds before eliminating them with targeted laser or mechanical removal.
“AI allows us to analyze the farmland, detect where the weeds are, and then deploy robots to eliminate them while optimizing cost, energy and pesticide usage,” Mouhoub explained.
He said similar techniques can also improve urban services, including systems that help dispatch technicians more efficiently across a city like Regina.
“We also work on optimizing electricity consumption using smart home data,” he added. “Artificial intelligence can help balance energy demand and even allow households producing solar power to sell energy back to the grid.”
Mouhoub hopes the event helps broaden the public’s understanding of the technology.
“People often reduce AI to tools like ChatGPT,” he said. “But there is much more happening, from robotics and agriculture to energy systems and healthcare.”
Students and entrepreneurs paying attention
Researchers are not the only ones watching the technology closely.
Entrepreneurship and Innovation professor Dr. Peter Moroz said artificial intelligence will have a profound impact on business and innovation in Saskatchewan.
“As someone who studies entrepreneurship, AI is going to reshape how companies operate and how new ventures are created,” Moroz said.
“It is not something that is going away. It is something we need to be talking about across academia, across business and across society.”
Moroz said he was encouraged to see students attending sessions throughout the first day.
“This is going to affect them more than almost anyone,” he said. “And we have a really strong slate of speakers coming over the next couple of days.”
Building apps with a prompt
Another presentation explored how AI is transforming software development itself.
Dale Storie, associate dean of research at the university’s Library and Archives, demonstrated “vibecoding,” a new approach where developers use natural language prompts to generate working software prototypes in minutes.
“You can describe the functions you want and within ten minutes you might have a working application,” Storie said.
“It is not production-ready software, but it is an incredible tool for prototyping ideas and experimenting with new concepts.”
He believes the technology will fundamentally change how people search for and access information.
“As these systems become connected with academic knowledge sources, the way students discover information could look very different in the future,” he said.
A broader conversation about society
Beyond technical demonstrations, the event is also encouraging reflection on the social consequences of artificial intelligence.
Dave Loos, director of community programming at the Saskatchewan Science Centre, said the discussions so far have highlighted both the potential and the challenges of the technology.
“It is fascinating to hear how AI is being used in academia, but also to hear perspectives from Indigenous knowledge keepers and others about how we should think about it,” Loos said.
“Misinformation is something we need to be mindful of, and understanding the technology helps people use it responsibly.”
What’s coming next
While the opening day focused on experimentation and hands-on learning, the next two days will dive deeper into the academic and societal implications of AI.
Thursday’s program will spotlight AI in research, teaching and learning, with faculty presentations exploring how machine learning is being used in fields ranging from environmental science to data analysis and education.
Friday will broaden the conversation to AI and society, with sessions examining issues such as bias in algorithms, ethics, public policy and the role communities should play in shaping the technology’s future.
Organizers say the event is open to the public and designed to welcome people at any level of familiarity with artificial intelligence.
For Couros, that inclusive approach is essential.
“This is not just about celebrating technology,” he said. “It is about asking deeper questions about the kind of world we want to build with it.”
As artificial intelligence continues to evolve at breathtaking speed, the conversations happening this week in Regina may help shape how that future unfolds, not just in universities but across society.
