# Speaking

Canonical URL: https://gabrieldalton.com/speaking
Author: Gabriel Dalton

TEDx speaker on AI and digital sustainability. I speak about what technology actually costs us, and what we can do about it. Available for selected engagements.

Featured talk 

## Digital sustainability: the missing piece of AI and tech literacy.

A TEDx talk for École Mission Secondary on what we don't measure when we talk about AI: the carbon, water, and attention cost of the web we already live with, and what young people are owed in the technologies built around them.

[Watch the talk →](https://gabrieldalton.com/speaking/the-missing-piece-of-ai-and-tech-literacy) · [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9L3bjj3GkSI)

## Formats

- Keynote (20 to 45 min).
- Panel and moderation.
- Workshop and classroom session.
- Private briefing for boards and executive teams.

## Typical audience

Students, civic leaders, nonprofit teams, and executive audiences from 30 to 250+. Comfortable speaking to youth, mixed-generation, and technical rooms.

## Topics

1. ### Digital sustainability: the missing piece of AI and tech literacy.

   Why we can't have honest conversations about AI or technology without measuring what they cost in carbon, water, attention, and trust.
2. ### AI safety, sustainability, and ethics in practice.

   From principles to product. What actually changes when sustainability and safety move upstream into how AI systems are built and deployed.
3. ### Being a young founder in tech.

   What it's like building a not-for-profit before you can legally rent a car. How to take young people in tech seriously, and how young people can take themselves seriously.
4. ### Website development, performance, and optimization.

   How to ship sites that load faster, use less energy, and reach more people on slow connections.

## Past talks

1. ![Gabriel Dalton speaking at a podium at the Consulate General of Ireland in Vancouver, beside the Irish, European Union, Canadian and British Columbia flags](https://gabrieldalton.com/img/talks/consulate-general-of-ireland-2026.webp) 

   Oct 2026 Vancouver, BC

   ### Consulate General of Ireland, Vancouver

   Keynote at the October Business Breakfast: “Digital Sustainability in the Age of AI”, on what the web and AI cost in energy, carbon and water, and what anyone can do about it.
2. ![Gabriel Dalton on stage giving his TEDx talk, wearing a headset microphone](https://gabrieldalton.com/img/talks/tedx-ecole-mission-2026.webp) 

   Feb 2026 Mission, BC

   ### [TEDx École Mission Secondary](https://gabrieldalton.com/speaking/the-missing-piece-of-ai-and-tech-literacy)

   A TEDx talk on digital sustainability, the missing piece of AI and tech literacy.

   [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9L3bjj3GkSI)
3. ![Gabriel Dalton speaking into a microphone on the URL to IRL panel, seated in front of a pink Screen Break backdrop](https://gabrieldalton.com/img/talks/url-to-irl-the-dais-2025.webp) 

   Sep 2025 Toronto, ON

   ### URL to IRL, Toronto Metropolitan University

   Youth panellist on the intergenerational panel at the Ted Rogers School of Management. Audience of 120+.
4. Jun 2025 Vancouver, BC

   ### Vancouver Emerging Technology Showcase

   Panellist and moderator at UBC Robson Square. Audience of 250+, sharing insights from The Knowledge Society and the digital sustainability practice at Oasis of Change.
5. Apr 2025 Vancouver, BC

   ### BC Screen Time Roundtable

   Contributed to discussions on responsible technology use across British Columbia at The Dais.
6. Mar 2025 Vancouver, BC

   ### TransLink Executive Team and Board of Directors

   A private briefing on digital sustainability: what it costs to run the web at the scale of a major regional transit authority, and what to do about it.

## Booking

Conferences, classrooms, corporate teams, policy roundtables. If it's a serious audience and a serious conversation, email me at me \[at\] gabrieldalton.com.

[Press kit and bio →](https://gabrieldalton.com/press.html)