Cynthia MacDonald

May 8, 2024 | munkschool.utoronto.ca | Cynthia MacDonald

California is known as the Golden State: a faraway place synonymous with surf, sand and sun. Yet though it may seem like a world unto itself, what happens in California regularly affects everyone in North America. Given the central role that it plays in immigration, defense and the global supply chain, California is very much our world too — one that is often anything but sunny.

May 8, 2024 | munkschool.utoronto.ca | Cynthia MacDonald

As conflicts rage in various parts of the world, it’s natural to wonder: how did these wars start, and what is being done to end them? If peace should arise, what factors will ensure it lasts? Though many of us would like to ask such questions of high-level political officials, it’s unlikely we’ll ever get the chance to do so.  And yet this winter, a fascinating speaker series provided a select group of students at the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy with that very opportunity.

Apr 25, 2024 | magazine.utoronto.ca | Cynthia MacDonald

About eight years ago, artificial intelligence seemed poised to revolutionize health care. IBM’s much-hyped AI system, known as Watson, had rapidly morphed from winning game-show contestant to medical genius, able to provide diagnoses and treatment plans with lightning speed. Around the same time, Geoffrey Hinton, a U of T professor emeritus, famously declared that human radiologists were on their way out. Now, it’s 2024: radiologists are still with us, and Watson Health is not.

Apr 25, 2024 | magazine.utoronto.ca | Cynthia MacDonald |Dan Falk |Kurt Kleiner |Adina Bresge

Artificial intelligence already seems ubiquitous. In one version of the future, this bodes well: AI will turbocharge progress, lead to new ways to treat disease, warn us of public health threats and even generate new career possibilities. In a darker scenario, it could eliminate entire job categories and fuel a tidal wave of disinformation. Ensuring the safe and responsible development of AI will be crucial.

Jan 25, 2024 | medicalxpress.com | Cynthia MacDonald

We've all had the experience of looking at a picture—of a sunset, a person, a sleek vehicle or adorable animal—and finding it enormously pleasing. But why? Are we culturally conditioned to gain pleasure from certain images and not others, or is there something else going on in our brains?