Let’s Talk Humanities: Mining, AI, and Warfare

DATE: Monday, April 13, 2026

TIME: 7:00pm – 8:00pm

VENUE: Alice MacKay Room, Lower Level, VPL Central Library, 350 West Georgia St., Vancouver

Headshots of three speakers: Sara Ghebremusse (black woman wearing glasses with medium length hair smiling), Jess Dempsey (white woman with short hair, wearing striped shirt smiling), and M.V. Ramana (darker skinned man with greying hair, wearing a red and blue patterned button down). Set against PHH black and white textured design.

The global race for critical minerals is on, and leaders across the world argue that they’re essential for the clean energy transition and our digital future. A similar race is happening with artificial intelligence (AI).

But is there a darker side to critical minerals and AI that most of us are not aware of?

For the first program in this Let’s Talk Humanities series, we’re featuring Public Policy and Global Affairs professor M. V. Ramana, Geography professor Jess Dempsey, and Law professor Sara Ghebremusse.

Together, they’ll explore the social and ecological impacts of AI and mining, as well as the role of both minerals and AI in war and destruction—and why we should act.

Let’s Talk Humanities is a program series organized in collaboration with the Vancouver Public Library, bringing UBC scholars who study society and culture to library stages. The discussions aim to illuminate pressing social and political issues. All are welcome!

Photos by Sophie Roth.