Skip to Main Content

Lesson 12

We will continue to think about the following question: What are the risks of using AI in society? We will also continue to practice the skills we learned for reading a research study and gathering evidence about why we need policies to regulate AI.

Lesson Goals

  • Can I gather and organize relevant and sufficient evidence to demonstrate an understanding of texts and topics, support claims, and develop ideas?

Texts

Core

  • Unit Reader
    • “Artificial Intelligence and Life in 2030,” Peter Stone et al., Stanford University, 2016

Materials

Question Sets

Editable Google Docs

Activity 1: Read – Write

We will practice our skills reading and comprehending a research study using the skim, read, reread, interpret method.

Access the report “Artificial Intelligence and Life in 2030” in your Unit Reader. Starting on page 417 with Section 3: Prospects and Recommendations for AI Public Policy, read until page 423, stopping with Policy and Legal Considerations.

  1. Skim the pages. Circle or underline the claims or topics.

  2. Read the abstract.

    • What are the main claims that will be explained in this section?

    • What are the topics that will be discussed?

  3. Read through the section.

  4. Reread the section, focusing on the following question: Why is it important to have policies and processes that address ethical and privacy- and security-related implications of artificial intelligence? Underline passages that will support you in answering this question.

Activity 2: Read – Discuss

We will examine the policy and legal considerations section of the report in groups.

Get into groups as assigned by your teacher. Each member will be in charge of one category below from the Policy and Legal Considerations section of the report.

  • privacy

  • innovation policy

  • liability (civil), liability (criminal), and agency

  • certification

  • labor

  • taxation

  • politics

The study states that it is possible to establish “broad categories of legal and policy issues that AI tends to raise in various contexts.” Read your assigned category and be able to summarize why it raises concerns about AI.

After reading, explain to your group why the category you studied raises concerns.

Activity 3: Read – Discuss

Read the last paragraph of the section in groups.

In your groups, read the last paragraph of the Policy and Legal Considerations section, beginning with “This list is not exhaustive...”

After reading, discuss the following question:

  1. Why does the study panel say, “Attempts to regulate ‘AI’ in general would be misguided, since there is no clear definition of AI (it isn’t any one thing), and the risks and considerations are very different in different domains”?

As a group formulate a shared answer to the guiding question. Share your group’s answer with the class.

Activity 4: Read – Discuss

Read the last two paragraphs of the study in groups.

In your group, read the last two paragraphs (para. 213 and 214) of the Guidelines for the Future final discussion, thinking about the following question:

  1. The study panel makes the closing claim, “Like other technologies, AI has the potential to be used for good or nefarious purposes. A vigorous and informed debate about how to best steer AI in ways that enrich our lives and our society is an urgent and vital need.” How do the authors of the study explain and develop this claim in relation to the information and policy recommendations presented in the report?

After reading, discuss the answer to that question in your groups.

Share your group’s thoughts with the class.