The Viaduct: Brave New Algorithm
This is the second lecture of The Viaduct Winter 2026 Lecture Series.
Brave New Algorithm by Bonnie Chin
What exactly is it that babies are watching on their iPads? What are these videos teaching them? How is the algorithim shaping our children's, and our own, lives? What dangers are we overlooking?
Bonnie spent six months tracking what happens when kids tap search for videos on YouTube. What she found is at turns terrifying and fascinating, from what's actually in it, how it gets made, and how the algorithm shapes what children see next. This talk illuminates the future of the media landscape and why it matters for anyone thinking about platform governance, child safety, or media literacy.
Bonnie Chin is a product designer who has worked with dozens of companies to create experiences that reveal unexpected user insights. Today she designs experiences for over 12 million creators on Roblox. She previously studied at the University of Waterloo.
Event Timing
6:00 PM: Doors Open and Live Music
7:00 PM: Lecture Followed by Q&A
8:30 PM: Social Hour
10:00 PM: Event Concludes
Patron Tickets
Our patrons make the work that the Toronto Society does possible. Every patron ticket includes
A reserved front row seat for every lecture
Dinner with the lecturer following the show
Our Vibe (The Toronto Society Etiquette Guide)
Toronto deserves the most welcoming and earnest intellectual community in the world.
Society events are a place for our community to learn, make friends, and develop their ideas. Everyone should feel energized, engaged, and most importantly at ease. Here are a few pointers to help build that spirit:
Put in the effort. The most interesting dialogue you will have all week will be at a Toronto Society event but being part of a sparkling conversation takes work. Pay attention. Really listen. Push your thinking. Try to make the other person laugh. Dress 10% better than you usually would.
Extend grace to everyone. We’re here to learn together. Learning means being able to make mistakes. No one knows everything and no one should ever be made to feel bad about their ideas. This also means holding each other to high standards. We want to show others the respect of expecting the best from them.
Prioritize Love. We do this because we love to learn, we love the world and believe we can make it better together, or because we simply love to spend time with our friends. Whatever the motivation, we want to make things better. This means bringing a spirit of optimism, however tentative, and not cynicism, nihilism or the desire to outsmart or undermine.
About the Viaduct
The Viaduct is a lecture series highlighting people and ideas that could transform our city.
Season Three is about asking questions to discover our cultural infrastructure, from the purpose of cities to the impact of infinite-scroll videos to the very way we use language.
Each lecture will be preluded by live music played by local artists, from R&B to classical. We meet to be changed—by a sentence that rearranges the mind, a frame that lingers in the dark, a story that can only be told once. Patron ticket holders will join the speakers for a private dinner after each lecture.
About the Toronto Society
The Toronto Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge is building intellectual infrastructure that will promote education, community, and cultural creativity for the next 100 years and beyond.
Notice of Filming and Photography
When you attend this event, you enter an area where photography, audio, and video recording will occur. By entering the event premises, you consent to this recording and its release, publication, exhibition or reproduction.