The Politics of Artificial Intelligence

Catalog description

Recent developments in machine learning have placed the extraordinary power of complex computational processes quite literally at our fingertips. At the same time, our social norms and political institutions are being transformed by the incorporation of these computational processes into the material conditions of society. The future development of fields as diverse as healthcare, communication, finance, biomedical research, computer science, marketing, policing and military strategy are effectively unthinkable without the continued integration of AI and its associated infrastructures. The profound reach of this ubiquitous and rapidly evolving technology raises increasingly urgent political questions. Are we prepared to let self-driving cars make life or death decisions concerning the safety of passengers and pedestrians? Are we comfortable allowing autonomous weapons systems to plan and carry out military operations? Can we trust facial recognition systems to police our communities? This course draws on resources from the history of political philosophy and the philosophy of technology in order to describe the political dimensions of AI, and the technological infrastructures of contemporary politics. Counts as a Communication Intensive course.