AI in the Real World: Power, Cost & Consequence

Ask the Tough Questions: Artificial intelligence is reshaping how we learn, work, create, and decide, but who builds it, who benefits, and who pays the price? In this course, you’ll investigate how AI systems actually work and examine their real-world effects on labor, creativity, privacy, the environment, democracy, and daily life. You’ll analyze case studies from hiring algorithms and facial recognition to generative AI in schools and newsrooms, weighing the promises against the costs. Through debates, research, and hands-on experiments with AI tools, you’ll learn to think critically about the technology you use every day. The course culminates in a project where you investigate an AI issue in your own community and propose policies to address it.

Why Take This Course? AI is already shaping your world. This course helps you understand how, and what you can do about it. You’ll learn to evaluate AI claims critically, use AI tools responsibly, and take part in some of the defining technology conversations of our time with confidence and insight.

Students in GOA courses will need reliable access to a computer with webcam/microphone connections, an email address (preferably school-based), a Web-conferencing app (GOA courses use Zoom), and a Word processing app (GOA courses use Google’s G Suite). When necessary, alternative arrangements may be made. Some courses require additional materials which can be found in the Course Outline. 

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