Week 6: AI in Society

Week 6: AI in Society#

Focus: Applications across domains

📚 Required Readings#

Primary Readings#

1. “AI in Healthcare: Promises and Pitfalls” (25 min)

   • Diagnostic AI systems
   • Drug discovery and personalized medicine
   • Equity in healthcare AI applications

2. “AI in Criminal Justice: Beyond Predictive Policing” (25 min)

   • Risk assessment algorithms in sentencing
   • Bias in criminal justice AI systems
   • Transparency and accountability challenges

Supplementary Resources#

• “AI in Education: Opportunities and Risks” — Brief overview
• Case studies from your field of interest

💭 Discussion Prompts#

1. What are the unique ethical considerations in high-stakes domains like healthcare or criminal justice?
2. How do we balance innovation benefits with preventing harm?
3. Who should benefit most from AI applications?

📝 Preparation for Class#

• Choose one domain where AI is being deployed (healthcare, education, transportation, finance, etc.)
• Research: What does the AI system do? What problem does it solve?
• Analyze: What are the potential benefits and harms for different groups?

🔗 Related Assignment#

See Week 6 Assignment for this week’s task.