AI & Society: Disrupting Algorithms

AI & Society: Disrupting Algorithms studies the social and environmental impacts of artificial intelligence. Using technology is a defining characteristic of what it means to be human. We are the tool-making and tool-using animal. So, is AI any different? From techno-utopian ideals of unleashed human potential to dire scifi warnings, how is our world being changed by learning machines? This class gives students tools to analyze how AI is reshaping the economy, employment, creativity, knowledge, definitions of ownership, and even our closest relationships. We explore what this technological shift in digital culture has in common with great social/scientific leaps of the past—and what might be different.