Artificial Intelligence Applications

AI companions have become increasingly popular. A recent study estimates that around 70% of teens in the US has tried an AI companions in the past year. But is their impact on our lives overall positive? Can they provide true friendship or fulfill any of our social needs? With their popularity on the rise, what are the social and political implications they carry? Come discuss these and other questions with us at the Centre for Ethics. Registration is free and everyone is welcome! Speakers Yiran Hua, Michael Inzlicht and Paul Bloom will discuss ethical questions surrounding AI companions. **About the Speakers:** [Paul Bloom](https://www.psych.utoronto.ca/people/directories/all-faculty/paul-bloom), Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Toronto * Paul Bloom studies how children and adults make sense of the world, with special focus on pleasure, morality, religion, fiction, and art. He has won numerous awards for his research and teaching. He is past-president of the *Society for Philosophy and Psychology*, and co-editor of *Behavioral and Brain Sciences*. He has written for scientific journals such as *Nature* and *Science*, and for popular outlets such as *The New York Times*, *The Guardian*, *The New Yorker*, and *The Atlantic Monthly*. He is the author of seven books, including his latest *Psych: The Story of the Human Mind*. [Yiran Hua](https://sites.google.com/view/uoftc4e/people), Post-Doctoral Fellow, Department of Philosophy, Centre for Ethics, University of Toronto * Yiran works on ethics and aesthetics. Before coming to Toronto, she was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Notre Dame’s Institute for Ethics and the Common Good. She received her doctorate from Brown University, and her BA from UNC-Chapel Hill. When doing philosophy, Yiran thinks about intimacy, love and beauty, and social/political relationships. She also has research interests in tech ethics, feminist philosophy, and Chinese philosophy. When not doing philosophy, Yiran is a creative writer. [Michael Inzlicht](https://utsc.utoronto.ca/psych/person/michael-inzlicht), Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Toronto * Professor Inzlicht uses methods borrowed from social psychology, cognitive science, and neuroscience to understand the nature of the mental effort we use to reach our goals and the nature of leisure activities we do for fun. His research includes projects on self-control, motivation, and empathy (work) as well as projects on digital device use, social media, and recreational cannabis use (play). His lab is committed to open and transparent science, which includes publicly posting data and materials, often preregistering studies, and regularly running replication studies. **\* \* \* \* \* \* \* \* \* \* \* \* \* \* \* \* \* \* \* \* \* \* \* \* \* \* \* \*** This is a panel discussion with audience Q&A presented by the University of Toronto's Centre for Ethics that is free to attend and open to the public. Please register in advance [here](https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/ai-companion-event-tickets-1978161502304) to attend. About the Centre for Ethics (http://ethics.utoronto.ca): The Centre for Ethics is an interdisciplinary centre aimed at advancing research and teaching in the field of ethics, broadly defined. The Centre seeks to bring together the theoretical and practical knowledge of diverse scholars, students, public servants and social leaders in order to increase understanding of the ethical dimensions of individual, social, and political life. In pursuit of its interdisciplinary mission, the Centre fosters lines of inquiry such as (1) foundations of ethics, which encompasses the history of ethics and core concepts in the philosophical study of ethics; (2) ethics in action, which relates theory to practice in key domains of social life, including bioethics, business ethics, and ethics in the public sphere; and (3) ethics in translation, which draws upon the rich multiculturalism of the City of Toronto and addresses the ethics of multicultural societies, ethical discourse across religious and cultural boundaries, and the ethics of international society. The Ethics of A.I. Lab at the Centre For Ethics recently appeared on a list of 10 organizations leading the way in ethical A.I.: https://ocean.sagepub.com/blog/10-organizations-leading-the-way-in-ethical-ai

🪞 My Inner Mirror – Inner Alchemy Workshop Through Art Therapy 🎨 Immerse yourself in a unique and transformative workshop, blending artistic creation, meditation, and inner exploration. This guided introspective space will allow you to manifest your inner reality through art, shifting perceptions and strengthening your connection with your subconscious. 🌟 Why Join? ✅ Visually express your inner world and uncover its hidden messages ✅ Deepen your connection with your subconscious through guided meditation ✅ Use art as a tool for transformation and self-analysis ✅ Learn interpretation techniques to better understand your creations No artistic skills required – this workshop is accessible to everyone! 🧘‍♂️ Workshop Flow: 1. Breathing Exercises – Mental and energetic preparation for meditation 2. Guided Meditation – Activating the subconscious and awakening intuition 3. Mirror Drawing Creation – Representing your inner reality through art 4. Interpretation & Examples – Understanding the symbols and messages within your artwork 5. Sharing & Q/A – A space for discussion and guidance 📌 Required Materials: 🔹 Paper: Blank sheets (A4 or A3 format, no grid lines) 🔹 Artistic tools: Pencils, brushes, markers, or any medium of your choice ⏳ Duration: 2 hours 💫 Guidance: This workshop is led by Ludovic, exploring inner alchemy through yoga and art therapy. 🪞 Let your true essence emerge, observe your inner reflection, and uncover the secrets your subconscious wishes to reveal. ✅ Reserve your spot now and embark on this transformative journey! **✨ Join Our Wellness Community** More on [https://www.yogasource.org](https://www.yogasource.org)

Join us the 4th Friday of every month at 6 pm at Cherie Bistro for another Toronto Humanist & Atheist get-together! Catch up with friends and welcome new people.

Join us for our new winter series for 2025 - BOARDGAME FRIDAY! This is a great place to meet new people, make new friends and play some fun games. Come with a group or by yourself! There will be games like Catan, Avalon, Ticket to Ride, Uno, Monopoly, Cards Against Humanity and more! **The restaurant, Aifam, will be giving out a free alcoholic drink of your choice (Wine or Beer) with the purchase of each sandwich!** Address: 102 Harbord St, Toronto, ON M5S 1G6 This event has an entry fee of $15 to be paid via cash or e-transfer. Looking forward to hosting this!

Welcome ! OM Chanting is a group practice that uses the transformational power of OM to activate the self-healing potential of participants, promote inner peace and purify the environment. OM Chanting is a free practice, however, donations are welcome to help cover the rent of the studio. \-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\- EVENT DETAILS: address: 283 Spadina Avenue; 3rd floor. ( SE corner of Spadina and Dundas). We will start at 6:30 pm. Please plan to arrive 5-10 minutes earlier. We will be sitting on chairs; you can also sit on the floor if you prefer. You are encouraged to bring a bottle of water. Looking forward to seeing you ! For more information about Om Chanting, please visit: [https://bhaktimarga.org/yoga-meditation/](https://bhaktimarga.org/yoga-meditation/) Much Love, Veda Cell: 416-845-9375

Cost: $16 per person (includes feather birdies). Plastic birdies are available upon request. Payment: Cash is preferred and should be made before playing. E-Transfer (EMT) or debit card payments are accepted (plus applicable taxes). Time: Sundays, 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM Location: 1370 Birchmount Rd, Unit #6 (Closest intersection: Birchmount Rd & Lawrence Ave) Requirements: Racquets: Bring your own racquet. Rentals are available at the club if needed. Shoes: Please bring indoor gym shoes and change into them at the club before entering the courts. Winter Reminder: Ensure you change into court shoes before stepping onto the courts during the winter months. Rules and Guidelines: No outside food is allowed. This meetup is open to players of all skill levels (beginner to advanced). The primary purpose is to play friendly doubles games. This event is not intended for singles matches or formal training sessions. Attendance is capped based on court availability. Waitlisted participants may be moved to the confirmed list as space allows, with priority given to regular attendees and those with reliable RSVP history. No Drop-ins: Only individuals on the confirmed “Going” list are allowed to attend. Unregistered participants will be asked to leave. Cancellation Policy: Please cancel at least 48 hours in advance if you cannot attend. Failure to do so will result in being marked as a no-show. Repeated no-shows may lead to removal from future “Going” lists.

[Summary] This meetup is for those who are interested in code, web development, design, cloud, or AI. All levels are welcome, so feel free to bring your laptop and discuss what you are working on or what you are learning. You can share your projects and ideas with other participants freely. There are outlets and WiFi, drinks are about $5 for tea, they take card only. [Price] Attendance is FREE. But you need to buy something from the venue. [Policies] \- We do not tolerate harassment of our members \- We remind users that that this meetup is intended for networking and hobby development\, and any attempts at using this meetup event as a dating platform will not be not be tolerated Further information: https://torontostack.exchange/

**New to moomoo or want to trade more efficiently?** Join us for an in-person, hands-on session designed to help you get the most out of Canada’s first AI-powered broker — moomoo. In this live demo, our speaker Ramin will walk you through the moomoo app step by step—from essential features to advanced tools—showing you how to analyze markets, spot opportunities, and trade with confidence. **What you’ll learn:** 1\. How to navigate the moomoo app from beginner to pro 2\. Key features that help you trade smarter with AI\-powered tools 3\. Practical tips to improve your U\.S\. stock trading workflow 4\. Live walkthrough \+ real\-time Q&A 5\. Networking opportunity with other investors Whether you’re just getting started or looking to level up your trading experience, this session is built to be practical, interactive, and easy to follow. 📍 95A Bloor Street West, Yorkville Limited spots available — register now and trade smarter with moomoo.

Let’s do some coding together at a cafe! No more working alone in the weekend. Here, we write code together. And I mean together together. Not occupying-the-same-space-but-separate together. Here’s how it works: Jennifer brings her mobile app project, tells everyone that it is like Pinterest for recipes and she’d like to work on the nav bar. Paul and Chloe think Jennifer's project is fascinating, and they join the group. They gather around Jennifer’s laptop and work on the nav bar for 2 hours. Jennifer is the one typing out the code while Paul and Chloe research, brainstorm, and offer suggestions. If you’re feeling stuck on your own project or need a motivation boost, bring it to mob programming! Want to learn by watching how others code and solve problems? Join someone else’s project at this event! Oh and we love your half-done projects that you are a bit embarrassed to share. Absolutely bring those to the event! **Discord**: We use Discord to share screen & code snippets during the event. Also feel free to share your projects here before the event! https://discord.gg/Da9fZFxPfs **Event policy**: * We have 0 tolerance for harassment. * We don’t allow the projects that are not meant to be shared in public such as school assignments, interview tasks, or trade secrets. * The goal is to write code. We discourage you from pitching business ideas here, doing code reviews, or spending the whole event on planning what to do. * Please buy a drink, and tip the barista well.

\*\***The Toronto History Walks Yearly Pass is available. Get it now for $125.00 for 1 year of unlimited tours, email** **torontohistorywalks@gmail.com** **for more information or for signing up!\*\*** \*\* **Please note: Please e-transfer the ticket amount when booking your space for this tour! You can e-transfer to the following email at:** **torontohistorywalks@gmail.com** So many walkers have expressed interest in a full explanation of the dreaded PATH, so here it is. A full course on the PATH, its history and explanation. You will become a PATH specialist after this, guaranteed! I've heard it so many times, with so many people, the common refrain, "I got lost in the PATH." If you are one of the many who have simply vanished in Toronto's underground never to be seen again, check out this popular historical walking tour. This tour demystifies the PATH system and explains how it works in grand detail. It takes walkers through the system and points out the crucial connectors and branches within the system to effortlessly guide the lost through the maze. Once experienced the PATH will be an invaluable aid to navigating the downtown, in both summer and winter, rain or shine, hurricane or drought. You might even enjoy getting lost in the underground, lost but not forgotten. This is the full PATH course curriculum: Part 1: The History of THE PATH Part2: Connectors and signboards Part 3: Understanding the above ground connection Part 4: Hidden paths to get one around quickly Part 5: The Blind Spots and how to work with them Part 6: The Maps Part 7: Getting from here to there! This walk is for all fitness levels and skills. This tour is indoors, so please dress for the conditions, and is considered an all-weather​ tour. The walk begins **inside** the Atrium on Bay at the northeast corner of Dundas Street West and Bay Street adjacent to the Red Lobster restaurant! This tour has a ticket price of $15.00 per person! \*\* **Please note: Please e-transfer the ticket amount when booking your space for this tour! You can e-transfer to the following email at:** **torontohistorywalks@gmail.com**

Hello everyone, I'd like to invite you out for fabulous Sunday afternoon; with our beloved party game, **Family Feud! (The Best Social Party Game in Town!)** It's going to be a total blast with a game designed to keep us laughing and interacting all afternoon! \*Super easy to learn, play and have fun! *\*Joined by my other social groups too so we can anticipate a fabulous turn out!* **Date:** Sunday January 25th 2026 **Arrival Time:** Please arrive between 4:00 p.m. -4:30 p.m. **Where to Meet us?** **Location:** La Carnita - (Main Floor) **Address:** 130 Eglinton Ave. Toronto, ON M4P 2X9 **Free Parking:** in Residential area and on Eglinton on the north side-just east of the restaurant **Yonge and Eglinton Subway:** (Very close, 3 minute walking distance) Event Details Below: Sincerely, Steve Flemming (Organizer/Host) https://www.meetup.com/soulcity/ **Details of Event:** **\*\*FAMILY FEUD\*\* (The Best Social Party Game in Town) (Sunday January 25th)** -Lots of laughs in store as we have a great evening making new friends and playing **Family Feud** hosted in a unique group vs group format -Groups will be divided into groups of 4-5 players, with multiple rounds played \*Treats handed out to the winning teams after each round we play \*\* Invite your friends or come on your own; either way we can anticipate a great time! ***It's all about having fun and laughing out loud!*** \-\-\-\- **Event Fee:** 10 dollars (cash only please) (HST included) or in advance by e transfer to **steveflemming11@gmail.com** \-\-\-\-\- \*Plan to come for dinner (one beverage or appetizer minimum to support this wonderful restaurant) (The food is fresh and really good!) \*Includes reserved seating for the group \*Beverage and/or appetizer minimum to support the staff and venue \*Dinner Party after Family Feud at no extra charge :) \-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-

We're going to the Harbourfront Dance Festival for Dance Ontario weekend. This features the best professional dance troupes in Toronto performing all kinds of dance styles from flamenco, asian, Indian, bellydance to modern. Each dance troupe performs for a half hour from 1 - 5pm. We will meet inside King subway station where you pay your fare, then we will take the subway to the harbourfront Fleck Theatre where the festival starts at 1pm and you can stay as long as you like. I suggest you buy your $20 ticket in advance to avoid a line-up on arrival but you can purchase your ticket at the door as well. We go to this festival every year it's excellent and worth paying for. If you like dance you're going to love it. Check out the event: [https://danceontario.ca/programs/dance-weekend/](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://danceontario.ca/programs/dance-weekend/&sa=D&source=calendar&usd=2&usg=AOvVaw3KwlgnBkXswYDvS6o7eu8H) purchase tickets online for Jan 24 [https://ci.ovationtix.com/36999/production/1260352?performanceId=11733867](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://ci.ovationtix.com/36999/production/1260352?performanceId%3D11733867&sa=D&source=calendar&usd=2&usg=AOvVaw0EWZR8nQEGnocnBNfS6MCp)

### Tools in your AI's Toolbox : An introduction to MCP Servers The generative AI revolution has unlocked unprecedented capabilities, but the next frontier is agency: empowering models to interact with, query, and act upon the world. The current challenge is the “N x M integration problem,” where every AI model requires a custom, brittle integration for each external tool or data source. This approach simply doesn’t scale. How can we give an AI access to our sales leads, code repositories, or IoT devices in a standardized, secure, and reusable way? This session introduces Anthropic’s Model Context Protocol (MCP), the open-source framework designed to solve this challenge and become the universal connector—the USB-C port—for AI. MCP standardizes how AI models discover and use external tools, moving beyond simple function-calling to a robust, client-server architecture. We will dive into how this open protocol is creating a new ecosystem for building powerful, context-aware AI agents. Join this session for a developer-focused introduction where you will learn how to: Understand the core concepts of the open-source Model Context Protocol and its architecture. Utilize pre-built, open-source MCP servers to instantly connect AI to tools like Git, Slack, and databases. Build a custom MCP server to securely expose your own proprietary data and APIs as tools for any compliant AI. Move beyond bespoke integrations and contribute to a standardized, collaborative, and open ecosystem. Stop building one-off connectors and start building intelligent agents. This session will give you the practical knowledge to leverage MCP and create the next generation of AI that doesn’t just talk, but does. Want to be a speaker? submit your talk to our Call for Presenters!!! [https://sessionize.com/azure-cbus-2026/](https://sessionize.com/azure-cbus-2026/)

**HAPPY HOUSE HUNTERS JOIN THE CENTRAL OHIO INVESTOR NETWORK** \* Time: 5 pm‎ - ‎8 pm‎ ‎ [Eastern Time] \* JANUARY 2026 ONLY: FOURTH Tuesday the 27th, then back to the regular schedule of third Tuesdays next month \* Where: Pastimes Pub at Grandview Yard, 775 Yard St. Columbus 43212 \* Description: Join Us for the Ultimate Real Estate Meet and Greet! Flip, Buy and Hold, Long-Term Rentals, Mid-Term Rentals & Short-Term B&B! Are you passionate about real estate investments or curious about the world of long-term rentals, mid-term rentals, or short-term rentals? Look no further because the "Happy House Hunters" and "The Inns and Outs of a B&B" invite you to come together with COIN for exciting monthly Meet and Greet events for all real estate investors! We look forward to seeing you there!

Welcome to Drunken Philosophy, a casual, curious, social discussion club. Optional topic for this meet up: Is life a dream? Is life a simulation? Dreams feel real while they last. Could life work the same way? How do we know we’re awake, and what follows if we can’t be sure? Let’s kick that around over a around of drinks: • What makes something feel real: continuity, shared evidence, or meaning? • How do we know we're not in a simulation? • How would you tell you’re awake (reality checks, memory, other people)? • If life is dreamlike, what becomes of free will and responsibility? • Is identity a story we keep telling—who’s the narrator? • Are we author, actor, or audience in our dreams and how would you tell? • Does art/film reveal reality or replace it? No lectures. Friendly crowd. Drop in for one drink and stay if it’s fun.

**Chaos Monkeys, Open Telemetry, and .NET Aspire: Taming Complexity in Modern Apps** .NET Aspire is far more than just a sleek dashboard for wowing your boss and co-workers. It's also a gateway to increased observability with open telemetry, better fault tolerance to fend off chaos monkeys, and a drastically improved onboarding experience for new developers. This session will explore Microsoft's latest guidance for building distributed, cloud-first applications, with practical strategies for enhancing simpler existing apps. You'll discover the inner workings of Aspire, from installation to customization, and learn how it streamlines integration with performance boosters like Redis. Most importantly, you'll see why scalable microservices architectures can be challenging—and how Aspire helps simplify the journey. **Presenter:** Lee Richardson, Microsoft MVP **Pizza starts at 6. Presentation starts around 6:30.**

**NEW LOCATION: Improving Office in Franklinton** Physical location: Improving Office 330 Rush Alley Suite #150 Columbus, OH 43215 Schedule: * 6:00 p.m.: Socialize, eat, and drink. Improving will be providing pizza and beverages. * 6:30 to 8:00 pm. Main meeting and presentation(s). For this first meeting of the year, we will be reviewing submissions for the [Your Program is Hideous and Obfuscated Challenge (YPHOC). ](https://docs.google.com/document/d/13zbxwElpJqPMuAN4Ele2hUgsqtFKzH3OCTL5NEeiLKQ)Submissions for this challenge are due by January 12th, 2026. The details can be found here: or on our website http://www.cohpy.org See Our [Parking Map](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1u2A4fLNlxwLJn0KA_hKc8bnFlFHLvsHBDh-_8wzX_tk/edit?usp=sharing) We meet on the last Monday of each Month. Presentations are given by members and friends of this group. If you would like to do a presentation (small or large) on a python topic, please contact centralohpython@gmail.com

## Learn Infrastructure-as-Code (the FUN Way) — Through Minecraft 🎮☁️ **Joint Meetup: Azure CBUS × Columbus HashiCorp User Group × DevOps Columbus** What if learning Terraform and Infrastructure-as-Code didn’t feel like a whitepaper… but more like a game? Join us for a joint Azure CBUS, Columbus HashiCorp User Group, and DevOps Columbus meetup where **Mark Tinderholt** \(Principal Architect\, Microsoft Azure \| HashiCorp Ambassador \| “The Azure Terraformer”\) shows how **Minecraft** can be used as a surprisingly powerful way to understand real-world Infrastructure-as-Code concepts. In this session, Mark will demonstrate how Terraform and Azure can be used to provision, configure, and manage Minecraft servers—while teaching the same patterns you’d use for production cloud infrastructure. ### What we’ll cover * Infrastructure-as-Code fundamentals using **Terraform** * Provisioning real infrastructure on **Azure** * Applying **IaC best practices** (immutability, repeatability, versioning) * How playful environments like Minecraft make complex concepts *click* * Why learning through experimentation beats click-ops every time ### Who should attend * Developers, platform engineers, and cloud engineers * Terraform users (new or experienced) * Anyone curious about Infrastructure-as-Code but tired of boring examples * Minecraft fans who want to see it used in a totally unexpected way No prior Minecraft experience required—just curiosity and a willingness to learn infrastructure the fun way. Come for the blocks, stay for the Terraform. 🧱➡️📐 Want to be a speaker? submit your talk to our Call for Presenters!!! https://sessionize.com/azure-cbus-2026/