Legacy in the Digital Age

We’ve entered a time where artificial intelligence can draft a resume, analyze an image, or summarize a 300-page book in seconds.

But here’s the thing: AI only knows what we teach it. And the truth is, what we’ve taught it hasn’t always been inclusive.

As AI becomes the lens through which we remember, hire, recommend, and define “success,” I keep thinking about my grandfather—Fred Thomas—whose story was nearly lost. One of the greatest Canadian athletes of his time. A Black man who broke barriers in three professional sports and served in the Royal Canadian Air Force. And still, for decades, he was invisible in the narrative of Canadian history.

Garrison delivering his Keynote "Getting to know Grandpa"

Not because he didn’t matter. Because the systems built to remember… weren’t built for him.

So what happens when we train machines using those same biased archives? What happens when the “truth” being coded, curated, and uploaded is incomplete?

If we’re not intentional, AI will do what history has always done: reward the familiar, overlook the different, and silence the inconvenient.

This isn’t just about algorithms. It’s about legacy.And if we don’t make space for fuller stories now—stories that reflect all of us—we risk repeating the past in code.

The future should be built by all of us. Not just the ones history remembered.