CSC 109 Enter the World of Artificial Intelligence: Computing Principles, Ethics, and Impact
Have you ever wondered how a computer program could beat grandmasters at chess? How can voice assistants understand your commands and even carry conversations with you? How can cars drive themselves? What powers Facebook to predict what you will like or dislike, or decide what is fake news? How can a computer program play the stock market or diagnose diseases?
Enter the world of AI. This course will help you understand the computing principles that drive AI so that you can answer these and many other questions.
What's next? Advances in AI could soon place our society at a turning point as we entrust the management of our infrastructure, security, economy, healthcare, and social activities to AI. Such advances raise complex philosophical, ethical, and legal questions. What is AI? How does it relate to the human mind? How can we ensure that AI respects ethical principles? Who is responsible when decisions made by AI have a negative impact or cause physical harm? What can we do to reap the benefits of AI while minimizing its risks?
The course is open to all students and does not require any computational background. The expected outcome is that students will be equipped with the intellectual tools to understand the computing principles that drive AI as well as its ethical, philosophical, and legal ramifications, and overall impact on society so that they can successfully navigate and shape the coming age of superintelligent AI.