Addressing the Technical, Philosophical, and Ethical Issues of Artificial Intelligence Through Active Learning Class Assignments

Abstract

Artificial intelligence (AI) is an extremely large and complex field technically, while at the same time it captures our imagination and prompts us to explore major philosophical and ethical questions concerning humanity and human intelligence. Teaching a course that does justice to all these aspects of the field is a big challenge. However, due to the increase in computational capability with a commensurate decrease in cost, a wealth of products and materials are available that can be used to provide students with rich, meaningful, and memorable experiences within the context of a primarily technical course in AI. Toys, articles, and movies can all be used to foster student exploration of key questions in the technical, philosophical, and ethical issues of AI.