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Lesson 8

We will continue to respond to the following question: What is artificial intelligence? We will form and debate opinions about super AI and whether it will have a positive or negative effect on our society. We will also practice evaluating an informational source, focusing on its credibility and perspective.

Lesson Goals

  • Can I pay attention to and listen carefully in order to identify reasons and evidence that support a speaker’s claim?

  • Can I change my ideas or perspectives based on new, credible information and experiences?

  • Can I evaluate the relevance and credibility of an informational source?

  • Can I analyze how an author’s perspective influences the position, purpose, and ideas of the text?

Texts

Core

  • Unit Reader
    • “Benefits & Risks of Artificial Intelligence,” Future of Life Institute, Future of Life Institute, 2016

Materials

Tools

Reference Guides

Question Sets

Editable Google Docs

Activity 1: Discuss – Write

We will have a class debate about super AI.

Begin the informal whole-class debate by stating your opinions, as expressed in the claims you wrote on the VideoNote-Taking Tool. Listen to the range of opinions expressed in the class, on both sides of the issue, before beginning to support or challenge them.

Debate as a class why you agree with either Silva’s positive outlook or Harris’s cautionary stance on super AI.

Use the evidence you gathered on thefirst section of the Discussion Tool as you debate with your classmates.

Use Section 2 of the Discussion Tool to take notes of your peers’ arguments and evidence.

After the debate, reflect on your opinion. Did your opinion change or stay the same? If it changed, why did it change? Write your thoughts on Section 3 of the Discussion Tool.

Activity 2: Read – Discuss

We will practice evaluating an informational source, considering what we can learn about the Future of life organization.

The previous activity had you form an opinion about super AI. You will now look at an article that looks at the risks and benefits of AI.

Read the quote from the president of the Future of Life Institute, Max Tegmark:

“Everything we love about civilization is a product of intelligence, so amplifying our human intelligence with artificial intelligence has the potential of helping civilization flourish like never before—as long as we manage to keep the technology beneficial.”

With an elbow partner, discuss what this quote reveals about his opinion of AI and its development.

Click on the "Who We Are" tab at the top of the Future of Life website. Read the mission, take note of the people and funding involved, and watch the video highlighting the group’s first year.

Consider the following questions:

  1. Based on the mission statement, “To catalyze and support research and initiatives for safeguarding life and developing optimistic visions of the future, including positive ways for humanity to steer its own course considering new technologies and challenges,” what is Future of Life’s perspective on AI?

  2. How credible does this organization seem to be regarding artificial intelligence?

Discuss your responses and supporting evidence from the site with a partner.

As a class, discuss what you have concluded about the reliability of Future of Life’s perspective on artificial intelligence.

Activity 3: Read – Write – Discuss

We will prepare to read the article by skimming the main headings and subheadings.

Before reading “Benefits & Risks of Artificial Intelligence” for homework, skim the article by looking at the main headings and subheadings. Take notes in your Learning Log and write a response to the following question: Based on the headings and subheadings, what do you predict is the purpose of this article?

Share your thoughts with the class.

Activity 4: Read – Write

For homework, we will read and annotate the article “Benefits &Amp; Risks Of Artificial Intelligence.”

For homework, read the article “Benefits & Risks of Artificial Intelligence.” While reading, annotate the article by considering the guiding questions below:

  1. How does this article echo the following claim from the Stanford report: “Further, research on the fairness, security, privacy, and societal implications of AI systems should be encouraged by removing impediments and increasing private and public spending to support it”?

  2. What does "the concern about advanced AI isn’t malevolence but competence" mean?

  3. What are the common myths the article discusses? Explain one of the three closely discussed myths.

Write new or interesting words you encounter in your Vocabulary Journal.