Philosophy of Artificial Intelligence

4 credits · Undergraduate

A tour of metaphysical, epistemological, and ethical issues raised by AI examining questions like: What is intelligence? What is agency? How do we know if machines have either of these? What’s the difference between an AI making predictions, yielding explanations, and understanding? What exactly would it take for a machine to understand natural language as human beings do? On the ethical side, questions like: If an algorithm manifests biased behavior, whose fault is it? How applications of AI threaten privacy or manipulate? Do basic questions of morality need to be settled so that we can program autonomous robots and vehicles? Finally, we consider if a superintelligent AI is a thing to look forward to, a grave threat, or a sci-fi fantasy.