Community-Based Research on the Ethics of AI

Catalog description

This course is an applied philosophy seminar in which students conduct a supervised, community-based qualitative research study on how people in and around Cleveland understand--and are affected by--artificial intelligence. Working as a research team, students will design a semi-structured interview study, recruit and interview diverse community members, analyze themes in the data, and produce a public-facing report and presentation suitable for sharing with community partners. Interview topics include perceived ethical impacts of AI on employment, education, social relationships, and civic life; perceptions of fairness, privacy, and responsibility; and beliefs about how AI systems 'think' and how (or whether) that differs from human thinking. Participants may also be interviewed concerning their perceptions of hypothetical scenarios that anticipate potential future developments of AI systems. Counts as a Disciplinary Communication course. Counts as a Local & Global Engagement course. Counts as a Moral & Ethical Reasoning course.