Artificial Intelligence Policy

1.5 Credits · Level: Graduate

Algorithms are proliferating across society: From healthcare to social media; from manufacturing to government surveillance; from public benefits to military applications. As algorithms continue to make more, and more important, decisions, their expansion is creating novel challenges for how governments invest in, regulate, and deploy algorithmic systems. Many leading governments—including the United States, the European Union, and China—now have artificial intelligence strategies which they see as key to national success. This course intends to deliver: (1) Algorithmic literacy, meaning a core understanding of algorithmic systems, including their limitations, and how they are deployed; (2) A survey of the most important topics in artificial intelligence policy, including algorithms used for public services; digital authoritarianism; economic impacts of automation; regulation of algorithmic processes; online platform governance; and funding AI research and infrastructure; and (3) an understanding of the government interventions, both established and experimental, in response to emerging algorithmic landscape.