Artificial Intelligence and Society: Promise and Peril (COMP 3213 R)
Term: 2020-2021 Academic Year Fall
Description
In this seminar, we will explore the past, present, and future of artificial intelligence (AI) and its growing impact on our society. In recent years, AI research has made astonishing technical progress and has assumed an increasingly widespread and important role in many aspects of our lives. AI systems can now (to varying degrees) drive cars; recognize human faces, speech, and gestures; diagnose diseases; control autonomous robots; converse fluently in English and other languages; instantly translate between languages; beat world-champion human players at chess, Go, and other games; and perform many other amazing feats that just a few decades ago were only possible within the realm of science fiction. Especially with the public release of ChatGPT and other systems powered by "large language models," AI has become for many people a source of profound fascination, inspiration, and even dread. These developments have led to extravagant claims, hopes, and fears about the potential consequences of AI for the future. In this course, we will attempt to peer beyond the hype and to come to grips with both the promise and the peril of AI technology. We will consider AI from many angles, including historical, philosophical, ethical, and public-policy perspectives. We will also examine in depth many of the technical concepts, major debates, and achievements of the field, as well as its many failures and setbacks. Throughout the course, students will be asked to read texts, write responses, do follow-up research, give presentations, and participate in classroom discussions. This is not a programming course, and no background in computer programming is expected or required. Also offered as First-Year Studies COMP 1213.