Ethics of Artificial Intelligence
Ethics of Artificial Intelligence
This course deals on how to reflect on the ethical, social, and cultural issues of AI and how to apply ethical frameworks to problems created, aggravated or transformed by AI.
Introduction to Artificial Intelligence Series
This MOOC is one of the MOOCs of the series titled “Introduction to Artificial Intelligence”, aimed at providing technical and non-technical, including historical and political, notions on artificial intelligence. The series investigates why artificial intelligence is nowadays considered the most disruptive enabling technologies up to at least 2050 and gives basic groundings for a preliminary approach to the area. It also deepens ethical issues and national strategies.
See the full seriesCourse description
The Mooc deals with the problems created, aggravated or transformed by AI. It is intended to give students a chance to reflect on the ethical, social, and cultural impact of AI by focusing on the issues faced by and brought about by professionals in AI but also by citizens, institutions and societies. The MOOC addresses these topics by means of case studies and examples analyzed in the light of the main ethical frameworks.
Total workload of the course: 8 h
This MOOC is provided by Politecnico di Milano.
Intended Learning Outcomes
By actively participating in this MOOC, you will achieve different intended learning outcomes (ILOs).
Week 1
- Describe the reasons for an ethical analysis applied to AI.
ESCO: ethics ESCO: principles of artificial intelligence - Recognize how the notion of responsibility is challenged when designing and using AI tools.
Week 2
- Identify the ethical and social impacts and implications of AI.
- Recognize and analyze ethical and social issues inherent in AI by means of examples and case-studies analyzed with the use of the main ethical frameworks.
Week 3
- Learn how to analyze problems through an ethical lens.
ESCO: think analytically - Use critical skills in clarifying and ethically analyzing AI in different domains of life.
ESCO: address problems critically
Week 4
- Critically analyze the current policies for AI.
ESCO: think analytically - Use ethical and socially responsible principles in your professional life.
ESCO: adhere to organisational code of ethics ESCO: protecting privacy
Prerequisites
No prerequisite knowledge is required.
Activities
Over and above consulting the content, in the form of videos and other web-based resources, you will have the opportunity to discuss course topics and to share ideas with your peers in the Forum of this MOOC.
Topic outline
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Week 1 introduces the concepts of ethics, AI and moral responsibility, explaining why it is necessary to consider ethical issues in AI and the relationship between responsibility and AI.
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Week 2 and 3 explore different ethical frameworks, case-studies, examples, such as digital medicine, sustainability, cybersecurity, analyze privacy in relation to AI and the so called moralizing technologies and their issues.
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Week 2 and 3 explore different ethical frameworks, case-studies, examples, such as digital medicine, sustainability, cybersecurity, analyze privacy in relation to AI and the so called moralizing technologies and their issues.
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Week 4 introduces some of the issues about governance of AI and presents some of the current policies for AI.
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Assessment
Your final grade for the course will be based on the results of your answers to the graded quizzes. You have unlimited attempts at each quiz, but you must wait 5 minutes before you can try again. You will have successfully completed the course if you achieve 60% (or more) of the total course score. The maximum score possible for each quiz is given at the top of the quiz. You can see your score in the quiz on your last attempt or on the 'Grades' page.
Certificate of accomplishment
You must be registered in POK through Politecnico di Milano personal account to obtain the Certificate of Accomplishment. It will be released to anyone who successfully completed the course by achieving at least 60% of the total score in the graded quizzes and filling the final survey. You will be able to download the Certificate of Accomplishment directly from Politecnico di Milano web services. The Certificate of Accomplishment does not confer any academic credit, grade or degree.
Information about fees and access to materials
You can access the course absolutely free of charge and completely online.
Course faculty
Viola Schiaffonati
Viola Schiaffonati is associate professor of Logic and Philosophy of Science at Politecnico di Milano, Dipartimento di Elettronica, Informazione e Bioingegneria. She holds a PhD in Philosophy of Science from Università di Genova. She has been visiting scholar at the Department of Philosophy of the University of California at Berkeley and visiting researcher at the Suppes Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Science and Technology of the Stanford University.Viola Schiaffonati is Director of the CINI National Laboratory on Informatics & Society (IeS) and Editor-in-Chief of Mondo Digitale, a magazine published by AICA (Italian Association of Computing). Her research interests are in the philosophy of AI and robotics, the epistemology and methodology of experiments in computer engineering and autonomous robotics, the ethical issues of intelligent and autonomous systems.
Contact details
If you have any enquiries about the course or if you need technical assistance please contact pok@polimi.it. For further information, see FAQ page.