Blair Attard-Frost
About
Appointed Canada CIFAR AI Chair – 2026
Blair Attard-Frost is an assistant professor of Political Science and Amii Fellow at the University of Alberta. She investigates the governance of AI through an interdisciplinary lens, combining perspectives from policy studies, participatory governance, trans studies, feminist science and technology studies, and service science. Her research applies trans feminist theory and qualitative methods to investigate challenges of power, participation, and justice in AI governance. Attard-Frost is particularly interested in how power dynamics and structural injustices shape and constrain possibilities for AI governance across scales and contexts, including international, national, organizational, and community-based AI governance systems. Her work is action-oriented, engaging diverse stakeholders across government, industry, and civil society to co-create strategies to reduce power imbalances and barriers to participation in AI governance.
Awards
- SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellowship, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (2025)
- 100 Brilliant Women in AI Ethics, Women in AI Ethics (2025)
- Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarship – Doctoral, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (2021-2024)
- Ontario Graduate Scholarship, Government of Ontario (2019-2021, 2024-2025
- Letter of Achievement, Beta Phi Mu – the International Library and Information Studies Honor Society (2016)
Relevant Publications
- Attard-Frost, B. (2025). Algorithmic justice vs. state power. In R. Butalid, C. Wright, I. K. Garcia, K. Baritugo, & Z. Mustin (Eds.), State of AI Ethics Report, Vol. 7 (58-59). Montreal AI Ethics Institute.
- Attard-Frost, B. & Widder, D. G. (2025). The ethics of AI value chains. Big Data & Society, 12(2), April-June.
- Attard-Frost, B. (2025). Transfeminist AI governance. First Monday, 30(4), April 2025.
- Attard-Frost, B. & Lyons, K. (2024). AI governance systems: A multi-scale analysis framework, empirical findings, and future directions. AI and Ethics, 5, 2557-2604.
- Attard-Frost, B., Brandusescu, A., & Lyons, K. (2024). The governance of artificial intelligence in Canada: Findings and opportunities from a review of 84 AI governance initiatives. Government Information Quarterly, 41(2), June 2024, 101929.