Society is driven, in part, by digital technology — and the skills used in these fast-paced digital systems require nimble and up-to-date skill sets. To prepare students for an ever-changing world, the School of Emerging Media and Technology (EMAT) offers a seminar course with a rotating list of timely topics. During the Spring 2024 semester, students have been exploring the ethics of artificial intelligence in "Seminar: Ethics and Emerging Technologies."
Professor Thor Wasbotten (Media and Journalism, affiliated faculty in EMAT), is teaching the course, guiding students as they explore artificial intelligence, bias and privacy issues.
"The students this entire semester ... have been thinking through real world applications of artificial intelligence and identifying the ethical risks, the concerns and also the ethical benefits for artificial intelligence," Wasbotten said.
Americans' use of artificial intelligence in daily life continues to grow; according to the “State of AI in Education” report (Quizlet, 2023), 62 percent of teachers and students in the United States have used artificial intelligence.
"It's been a great opportunity for students to think through all of those ethical implications of artificial intelligence," Wasbotten said, "and all of those things that come into creating appropriate and good technology that will have more benefits than harm."
Past EMAT seminar topics include:
- Application Security and Compliance
- Children's Literature in Augmented Reality
- Linux and Container Infrastructure
- Smart Devices