SAPOR Annual Conference Edition
At the 2025 Annual Conference of the Southern Association for Public Opinion Research (SAPOR), Arundati Dandapani, Founder & CEO of Generation1.ca, delivered a powerful talk titled “Language Is Power: Bridging Disciplines for Public Opinion Research in Turbulent Times.” The session, chaired by Dakisha Locklear of RTI International, was part of SAPOR’s celebration of AAPOR’s 80-year legacy in advancing survey research and data quality. Please refer to the agenda PDF hyperlinked and to some highlights below.
The Power of Language in a Socio-Technical World
“In a world where truth, trust, and technology collide,” Dandapani began, “language remains our most powerful currency for understanding people, ethics, and democracy.” She reminded the audience that AI is never just technical — it is deeply socio-technical, shaped by the values, assumptions, and blind spots of its creators. “Every line of code carries a worldview, and every model we deploy communicates a story,” she emphasized, highlighting the moral and cultural responsibility that comes with building AI-driven systems.
Insights from Generation1.ca’s 2025 Global Industry Skills Study (GISS)
Drawing on Generation1.ca’s 2025 Global Industry Skills Study (GISS), which surveyed 384 employers and over 1,000 immigrant jobseekers, Dandapani revealed that:
- Critical thinking remains the most sought-after skill across all sectors.
- 83% of employers support immigrant inclusion, yet only one-third hire international graduates, contributing to $9 billion in lost productivity in Canada and $50 billion in the U.S. each year.
- Employers cited mentorship, networking, and legal support as key success factors for newcomer integration that they may be prepared to support with some differences between Canada and US.
These insights inform and shape Generation1.ca’s Future Ready Innovators Credential, launching in 2026 — an open-access, skills-based framework empowering immigrants and organizations with AI literacy, ethical awareness, and inclusive design principles.
AI, Ethics, and the Future of Public Opinion Research
Dandapani called for a shift from a purely computational approach to one that recognizes AI’s social, cultural, and ethical dimensions. “Public opinion researchers are not neutral observers,” she noted. “We’re co-authors of public discourse.”
Referencing the AI Incident Database and NIST risk models, she urged researchers to evaluate not only the accuracy but also the autonomy and accountability of AI systems. Her message was clear: the same automation transforming industries must be guided by human empathy and governance, or risk reproducing inequality at scale.
Storytelling as Resistance
She challenged the audience to see storytelling as resistance — a way to restore human meaning in automated systems and to reclaim the cultural nuance often stripped away by machine interpretation.
“Language is power — to include or exclude, to measure or mislead,” she said. “Public opinion research must evolve to reflect cultural nuance, data integrity, and human-centred storytelling.”
Bridging Disciplines, Building Futures
In celebrating SAPOR’s commitment to advancing research integrity, Dandapani’s session underscored how bridging linguistics, data science, and AI governance can strengthen democracy, inclusion, and innovation. Her talk embodied Generation1.ca’s mission to place immigrant newcomers and the organizations that champion them at the forefront of opportunity.
Through data literacy, ethical AI advocacy, and community-driven research, Generation1.ca continues to bridge borders and disciplines — from Toronto to Washington D.C., and beyond — shaping a future where language, data, and imagination stories work together to build inclusive, future-ready systems.
Her message was clear:
“Language is power — to include or exclude, to measure or mislead.”
Arundati Dandapani, Founder and CEO, Generation1.ca
Let’s build AI-literate, ethically grounded systems that reflect diverse voices and restore human meaning in an automated world.
#PublicOpinionResearch #AIethics #DataEthics #ImmigrantInclusion #Generation1ca #SAPOR2025
