Week 11: Futures & Regulation
Week 11: Futures & Regulation#
Focus: Possible futures, values, and comprehensive regulation
📚 Required Readings#
Primary Readings#
“The Future of AI: Scenarios and Possibilities” (30 min)
- Optimistic scenarios: abundance, solutions to major challenges
- Pessimistic scenarios: misalignment, power concentration
- Most likely path: continued uncertainty and mixed outcomes
- Role of decisions we make today
“Comprehensive AI Governance Frameworks” (30 min)
- Integration of technical, policy, and ethical approaches
- Role of stakeholders: governments, industry, civil society, academia
- International cooperation challenges
- Building values into AI systems from the start
Supplementary Resources#
- AI policy recommendations from diverse organizations
- “The Alignment Problem” — Overview of AI safety research
- Scenarios from AI foresight exercises
💭 Discussion Prompts#
- What future for AI and society would you most want to see?
- How can we ensure AI benefits are broadly shared?
- What values should guide AI development and deployment?
📝 Preparation for Class#
- Envision your preferred future with AI (5-10 years from now): What works well? What problems have been solved or prevented?
- Write down 2-3 actions or policies that would help achieve that future
- Reflect on obstacles and resistance that might prevent that future
🔗 Related Assignment#
See Week 11 Assignment for this week’s task.
Final Project Planning: Begin thinking about your final project topic (due Week 12). See Final Project for details.