Machine Learning

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

🎬 Let’s Go to the Movies (and Actually Talk… or Not) Whether you're a film nerd, popcorn enthusiast, or just looking for a chill night out with interesting people — this one's for you. We’re heading out to see a movie together, then grabbing food or drinks after. If the film's great (or terrible), we’ll probably talk about it forever. If it’s just okay, we’ll talk about it for 10 minutes and move on to everything else — books, dating apps, weird dreams, how Toronto keeps getting more expensive, etc. The vibe is relaxed, friendly, and not too serious. No film degree needed. No icebreakers. No pressure to “perform.” Just come enjoy the film, connect with some thoughtful people, and see where the night goes Click here to watch trailer! 🎞️ **Movie Title + Trailer:** [[Click here to watch trailer!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TE5v3U79i6s)] 📖 **📖 Plot Summary:** As their marriage quietly unravels, Alex (Will Arnett) faces middle age and an impending divorce, seeking new purpose in the New York comedy scene while Tess (Laura Dern) confronts the sacrifices she made for their family—forcing them to navigate co-parenting, identity, and whether love can take a new form. *** ### 🗓️ **Event Details** 📍 **Meetup Time:** 6:45 PM - I will only wait 5mins 🎬 **Movie Start Time:** 7:00pm ⏱️ **Runtime:** 2hrs 📌 **Meetup Spot:** I will be at the top of the escalators by the wall of movie posters and I will be wearing my Moose hat. 🎟️ **Cost:** * **$11.50** for *CineClub* members * **$16.00** regular admission 👉 You are responsible for buying your own ticket. **🪑 Reserved Seating:** You must buy your ticket *before* signing up. You'll be asked where you're sitting so we can all sit together! However, members are welcome to seat anywhere they want in the theatre that works for them. 🎫 Buy your ticket here: [https://www.cineplex.com](https://www.cineplex.com) 📍🪑 **Where I will be sitting:** I will be in ROW "G" "SEAT "12" 🍿 **After the Movie:** Yes, we’re heading out after! It’s not just a movie night — it’s a social night. Let's talk, laugh, and dissect every plot twist. *** ### ✅ **Before You Sign Up** * Please **buy your ticket first** — seating is limited! * When signing up, let us know your **seat number** so we can try to group everyone together. * You can still sign up or just **show up on the day** if you’re not sure you can make it — we’re flexible! 📲 **Join Our WhatsApp Group:** [Click here to join](#) 🎟️ **Join Cineplex’s CineClub for discounts**: [https://www.cineplex.com/cineclub](https://www.cineplex.com/cineclub) 🎁 **Get your SCENE Card** for free movies and points: [https://www.scene.ca](https://www.scene.ca) *** ### 🎥 **A Quick Word About Movie Etiquette** We love a great film experience. Please: * Turn off your phone * Don’t talk during the movie * Be respectful of others Repeat offenders will be removed from the group — we take our cinema seriously (but with snacks). *** ### 👥 **About the Group** This event is open to everyone — single, not single, shy, social, new in town or a long-time local. We're a group for people who love movies *and* making real connections. We also do walks, hikes, restaurants, arts & culture — come be part of it! 🎬 **Organized by:** Mathew 📧 Questions? Reach out: **torontomoviesandoutings@hotmail.com**

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.

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

Let’s get together to speak French! We’ll enjoy tea/coffee and some icebreaker games. Everyone is welcome. Venez parler français! À bientôt, Hassane. \*Merci beaucoup de vous être inscrit(e) à notre prochaine rencontre! Nous sommes ravis de votre présence. Afin de permettre à d’autres de se joindre à nous, nous vous demandons respectueusement : 1. **Si vos plans changent,** veuillez mettre à jour votre statut (passer à 'Non') le plus rapidement possible pour libérer votre place. 2. **Si vous êtes sur la liste d'attente,** merci de ne pas vous présenter à l'événement. Votre statut doit être confirmé pour pouvoir participer. Veuillez vous inscrire directement aux prochaines dates disponibles. Au plaisir de vous accueillir! \*To allow others to join us, we respectfully ask that you: * **If your plans change,** please update your RSVP status (change it to 'No') as quickly as possible to free up your spot. * **If you are on the waiting list,** please do not show up for the event. Your status must be confirmed to participate. Instead, please register directly for the next available dates. We look forward to welcoming you! Please join our WhatsApp group: https://chat.whatsapp.com/LRUdXbjpG8I9aph4dU6Go8

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.

Hello Everybody! 【College Park food court is closed again, so we change the location to the food court in Brookfield Place（181 Bay St., Toronto, ON）, near the Union Station.】 I am helping organize a mandarin-english language exchange downtown. If you want to improve your Mandarin/English, feel free to come by downtown and meet others to practise your language. There will be native Mandarin and English speakers to help you! Or you can share your language skills with others! Every Saturday 3:00pm-5:00pm Brookfield Place Food Court（181 Bay St., Toronto, ON） [ Please find a table with "meetup" label (like the Featured photo).] [ Usually in front of the Longo's supermarket] —————————————— 大家好： 【College Park的food court又给封了，所以我们把活动地点换到了 Brookfield Place的food court （181 Bay St., Toronto, ON），靠近Union Station。】 我正在组织一场中英文交流活动。如果你想提高你的普通话或者英语，那就快来参加吧！你可以在这里认识很多母语为普通话或者英语的新朋友！他们都非常乐于帮你提高你的中英文表达能力！也欢迎你同我们一起分享你的语言技巧! 谢谢! 每周六 3:00pm-5:00pm Brookfield Place Food Court（181 Bay St., Toronto, ON） 【请找到一张桌子，桌上有张纸，写着“Meetup”。】 【位置通常会在longo's超市前面】 ———————————————— 大家好： 【College Park的food court又給封了，所以我們把活動地點換到了Brookfield Place的food court （181 Bay St., Toronto, ON），靠近Union Station。】 我正在組織一場中英文交流活動。如果你想提高你的國語或者英語，那就快來參加吧！你可以在這裡認識很多母語為國語或者英語的新朋友！他們都非常樂於幫你提高你的中英文表達能力！也歡迎你同我們一起分享你的語言技巧！ 謝謝! 每週六 3:00pm-5:00pm Brookfield Place Food Court（181 Bay St., Toronto, ON） 【請找到一張桌子，桌上有張紙，寫著“Meetup”】 【位置通常會在longo's超市前面】

[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/

【College Park food court is closed again, so we change the location to the food court in Aura Concourse（384 Yonge St., Toronto, ON）, near the College Station.】 I am helping organize a mandarin-english language exchange downtown. If you want to improve your Mandarin/English, feel free to come by downtown and meet others to practise your language. There will be native Mandarin and English speakers to help you! Or you can share your language skills with others! Every Sunday 3:00pm-5:00pm Aura Concourse（384 Yonge St., Toronto, ON) [ Please find a table with "meetup" label (like the Featured photo).] [ Usually in front of the pharmacy ] —————————————— 大家好： 【College Park的food court又给封了，所以我们把活动地点换到了 Aura Concourse的food court（384 Yonge St., Toronto, ON），靠近College Station。】 我正在组织一场中英文交流活动。如果你想提高你的普通话或者英语，那就快来参加吧！你可以在这里认识很多母语为普通话或者英语的新朋友！他们都非常乐于帮你提高你的中英文表达能力！也欢迎你同我们一起分享你的语言技巧! 谢谢! 每周日 3:00pm-5:00pm Aura Concourse food court（384 Yonge St., Toronto, ON） 【请找到一张桌子，桌上有张纸，写着“Meetup”。】 【位置通常在药房前面】 ———————————————— 大家好： 【College Park的food court又給封了，所以我們把活動地點換到了Aura Concourse的food court（384 Yonge St., Toronto, ON），靠近College 】 我正在組織一場中英文交流活動。如果你想提高你的國語或者英語，那就快來參加吧！你可以在這裡認識很多母語為國語或者英語的新朋友！他們都非常樂於幫你提高你的中英文表達能力！也歡迎你同我們一起分享你的語言技巧！ 謝謝! 每週日 3:00pm-5:00pm Aura Concourse food court（384 Yonge St., Toronto, ON） 【請找到一張桌子，桌上有張紙，寫著“Meetup”】 【位置通常會在藥房前面】

**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.

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)

Join us fora fabulous live music ! Repeat performance!

## Learn Infrastructure-as-Code (the FUN Way) — Through Minecraft 🎮☁️ **Joint Meetup: Azure CBUS × Columbus HashiCorp User Group** 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 and Columbus HashiCorp User Group 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/cbus-hug-2026/

**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

### 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/)

## 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/

Come learn what Mom League is all about. Pregnant or recently postpartum mom/parents and kiddos welcome. We will discuss the offerings of the Mom League newborn series.

**New Dojo Location!** **Draft Day Columbus** 1130 Dublin Road Columbus, OH 43215 We're going to try a new dojo location for a few weeks and see how it works Dojos are informal Python group study sessions where everyone interested in Python gathers to learn about Python, help others with Python, or just hang out. Everyone is welcome from Python beginners to experts. Bringing a laptop is encouraged (we'll have extension cords and power strips). If there's something you want to learn leave a comment on this invite so we can plan ahead. We're looking for topic suggestions and people interested in presenting at our monthly meetings. To this end we've set up a survey form at [https://docs.google.com/forms/d/15eBKF1nQQ2XS5gzD4rvhVRHMBEj7lJtHuA9wXupS3Uc](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/15eBKF1nQQ2XS5gzD4rvhVRHMBEj7lJtHuA9wXupS3Uc)