HNUH248I

Could AI be part of a sustainable, safe, and just world? The consumer AI boom has raised critiques about energy, land, and water use; reshaping education and the workforce; reinforcing bias and misinformation; and mental health safety for users, among others. But the ability to recognize patterns, analyze large data sets, and synthesize input has allowed for early detection of cancer, provided support for critical journalism, and aided research. This class will use ethical paradigms, economic theories, and systems and design thinking to examine how we got to the present moment, what could have happened differently, and what could yet change. We will reframe the technological future not as inevitable but as a product of human action, and grapple with how to shape that action going forward.