Application, Ethics, and Governance of AI

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

The application of artificial intelligence is expanding rapidly and has the potential to reshape many fields, including transportation, finance, health care, marketing, social media, criminal justice, and public policy, just to name a few. AI's ability to predict human preference and behavior or even substitute human judgement in these fields creates opportunities as well as concerns for safety, bias and discrimination, transparency, inequality, and job loss. Designed to serve students from no background in AI to those who have existing technical background, this course surveys current and emerging applications of AI in different fields and the related ethical issues and governance problems. The course targets students from different disciplines. Students from the humanities and social sciences will gain a deeper understanding of the technical aspects underpinning today's ethical and policy debates related to AI. Students with more technical background will better appreciate the ethical issues that arise in programming and engineering and understand how technology interacts with the broader societal contexts. The course's goal is to encourage students to become proactive in thinking of the societal implications of technological change and to incorporate such understanding in their education and careers.