Ethics of Artificial Intelligence

Why did you choose to take the course?
As someone with a bachelor's degree in law, ethics and the concept of justice have always been interesting subjects for me to pursuit. Some of my favorite books, series, and films tend to focus on life’s inconsistencies. Michael Sandel’s Justice: What is the Right Thing to Do?, Yuval Harari’s Homo Deus: A Brief Story of Tomorrow, Charlie Brooker’s Black Mirror, and Steven Spielberg’s Minority Report helped me better comprehend life’s gray areas, as opposed to sticking with a simpler, Manichean rationale. So, enrolling in a course that focuses on ethical reasoning of such a current theme such as Artificial Intelligence was both exciting and logical.

What was the best part of the course?
The classes and the group work were arguably the best part of the course. Philosophical concepts and ethical thinking can become overwhelming if one is not well guided, and it was always amusing to debate with my colleagues over each one’s interpretation of a subject or a text.

If someone asks you about the course, what would you say?
I would recommend for all of those intrigued by the present and future of human interaction. In today’s fast-paced world, we tend to absorb all the information that is thrown at us in need of always feeling ahead of the curb. But we seldomly stop and reflect on the core, ethical implications of the technological advancements we are being exposed to, particularly that of AI. It is easier to neglect correlation and causation and just hop in the wagon without wondering about the possible implications AI could have not only to us but also to different groups, some of which can be further sidelined due to echoes and biases within AI development. At the end of the day, AI is carried out by humans with their own preconceptions about the world, something which should not be neglected.

Tell us about what you are doing today.
I have recently finished my master’s program in European and International Relations at LiU, with a thesis on the EU’s food security compass and the EU-Mercosur Free Trade Agreement. This a complex philosophical subject itself, particularly since the war in Ukraine. Due to the course on AI, however, I decided to develop my skillset in data analysis, business analysis, and AI prompting, with courses provided by institutions such as Google, IBM, and Microsoft. My goal is to work with international tax, an area I already have some professional experience and am very interested in. LiU’s course on the Ethics of AI has given me the tools to embrace AI without losing myself in the daily ethical challenges it inevitably brings to my life.