UT Austin Launches Essential AI Course for Students, Staff, and Faculty
The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin) is introducing a new course titled The Essentials of AI for Life and Society to provide basic AI literacy and explore the ethical and societal implications of AI technologies. Aimed at all students, regardless of their major, as well as staff and faculty members, the course is being offered by the university’s Department of Computer Science in collaboration with the Good Systems program.
The course is designed to equip participants with a fundamental understanding of AI and its potential impact on various aspects of our lives, including work, leisure, policy-making, and our understanding of the world. It aims to bridge the gap between the increasing prevalence of AI-powered technologies and the lack of understanding about how these technologies work and their associated risks and benefits.
According to Peter Stone, professor of computer science and one of the course’s co-instructors, AI is expected to have an impact on every sector of the economy. Stone emphasized the importance of being familiar with AI tools and being able to strategize about the role of human creativity, labor, and value in the economy compared to AI tools.
The course, which carries one semester credit hour, does not require any prerequisites, technical knowledge, or programming skills. It will be taught by three core computer science faculty members – Joydeep Biswas, Don Fussell, and Peter Stone – along with guest lecturers from various disciplines intersecting with AI technology.
The course is divided into two parts. The first part introduces fundamental concepts of AI and machine learning, including methodologies, paradigms, and applications such as computer vision, natural language processing, reasoning under uncertainty, and robotics. The second part focuses on the societal implications and ethical considerations of AI, including its impact on the workforce, the proliferation of misinformation, challenges to democracy, and its potential benefits.
The introduction of this course comes at a time when experts predict that AI-powered technologies will increasingly become a part of our daily lives. The course aims to ensure that UT Austin students are well-equipped to understand and navigate the rapidly evolving landscape of AI.
The course will run throughout the fall semester and will follow a hybrid format, allowing students to attend live, synchronous lectures either in-person or via streaming. Weekly readings, interactive lectures, and short assessments will be included, with students having the option to take the course for a letter grade or pass/fail.
UT Austin’s Good Systems program, housed in the Office of the Vice President for Research, Scholarship, and Creative Endeavors, focuses on harnessing the benefits of AI for the greater good while mitigating potential harms. The university hopes that by offering this course, students will develop the ability to discern between realistic AI applications and science fiction, understand the terminology used in news articles, make informed decisions about AI in their careers, and contribute to the public debate regarding society’s response to AI technologies.
The registration for the course is open to students, staff, and faculty through the Office of the Registrar, with a separate sign-up option for staff, faculty, and graduate students who wish to audit the course without credit.
In summary, UT Austin’s Department of Computer Science is launching a new AI course that aims to provide basic AI literacy and explore the ethical and societal implications of AI technologies. The course is open to all students, staff, and faculty at the university and does not require any prerequisites or technical knowledge. By offering this course, UT Austin hopes to equip its students with the knowledge and skills necessary to understand and navigate the ever-evolving world of AI.
