PHIL 2053 - AI and Human Life: Ethics, Politics, Subjectivity.

Artificially Intelligent systems are capable of controlling (and in some cases already do control) crucial areas of human life. This course provides the conceptual framework that allows students to (a) understand the nature and scope of innovation in AI (b) evaluate arguments about ethical and political questions use of AI in a range of contexts from medicine and warfare to privacy, surveillance and intimate personal behaviour.(c) understand the relationship between computational architecture and decision making leading to bias or potentially catastrophic consequences. (d) the ethical status of AI systems themselves (e) the relationship between Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) and human and biological cognition. This course gives students a toolkit to critically reflect on these questions using cutting edge case studies of the use of AI in politically and ethically charged contexts.