Courses

As AI moves from science fiction into everyday life, the ethical challenges it raises become urgent. Can we trust machines to make ethical decisions, and how do we ensure they align with human values? Could an ethical Turing Test, or measure of a machine's ability to exhibit human-like judgments or evaluations, provide the assurance we need? This course uses philosophy to tackle these and other pressing questions, focusing on the "alignment problem"—the challenge of embedding ethics in AI systems to prevent unintended harm. Through readings by thinkers like Nick Bostrom, Isaac Asimov, and Ludwig Wittgenstein, we’ll explore whether AI can truly exhibit ethical judgment and examine the limitations of rigid rules vs. flexible, empathy-driven frameworks. Students will discuss the implications of different approaches and whether, even if a method seems ideal, it can actually be put into practice. By the end of the course, students will have gained insights into the urgency of the problem of machine ethics as well as the ability to critically assess a wide variety of approaches to the problem.