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Section 1: Overview

Artificial Intelligence

We will initially answer the broad question: What is artificial intelligence? We will examine studies, articles, and videos to build a definition of the term artificial intelligence. Once we have a working definition of artificial intelligence, we will address different types of artificial intelligence and their applications. As we continue to explore artificial intelligence and its many facets, we will look at the concerns and risks of its usage.

  • Lesson 1:

    We will begin our study of artificial intelligence by considering the following question: What is artificial intelligence? We will brainstorm what we know about the term artificial intelligence and build on our classmates’ ideas to create a class definition.

  • Lesson 2:

    We will continue to consider the following question: What is artificial intelligence? We will compare our class definition to a definition from the Encyclopedia Britannica, adding information or ideas to our class definition. In addition, we will form groups to learn domain-specific terms as we prepare to read about artificial intelligence.

  • Lesson 3:

    We will continue to consider the following question: What is artificial intelligence? We will continue our research by beginning our in-depth reading of “Artificial Intelligence and Life in 2030.” We will learn a strategy for how to read scientific reports and research papers, as well as practice this technique as a class.

  • Lesson 4:

    We will continue to consider the following question: What is artificial intelligence? We will continue our in-depth reading of “Artificial Intelligence and Life in 2030” in groups.

  • Lesson 5:

    We will continue to consider the following question: What is artificial intelligence? We will look at the different domains in which it is used and discuss the difference among narrow AI, general AI, and super AI.

  • Lesson 6:

    We will continue to consider the following question: What is artificial intelligence? We will drill down into the distinctions between narrow AI, general AI, and super AI, summarizing the characteristics of each type of AI, brainstorming examples. We will also increase our understanding of vocabulary important to the topic of AI to help facilitate our work on the topic, including exploring the origins of the word robot and how the definition of the word relates to our studies.

  • Lesson 7:

    We will learn about two types of faulty reasoning so we can analyze the strength and reliability of evidence used in sources we will be reading throughout this unit. We will watch two videos that explore whether humans are in danger as AI advances to understand why people are afraid of strong AI, applying our skills of analyzing the sources for possible uses of faulty reasoning.

  • 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 9:

    We will learn about the importance of paying attention to authors’ use of language and will begin compiling powerful and interesting sentences in our Mentor Sentence Journals.

  • Lesson 10:

    We will consider the following question: What are the risks of using AI in society? We will analyze the claims and supporting data presented in the article “Benefits & Risks of Artificial Intelligence,” comparing it to a claim from “Artificial Intelligence and Life in 2030.”

  • Lesson 11:

    We will continue to consider the following question: What are the risks of using AI in society? We will delineate and evaluate an argument presented by Stephen Hawking.

  • 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 13:

    We will prepare for our Section Diagnostic by considering the following question: Why is it important to have policies and processes that address ethical and privacy- and security-related implications of artificial intelligence? We will unpack the prompt, review the primary source, form claims, and gather evidence.

  • Lesson 14:

    We will write a response to the Section 1 Diagnostic prompt: Why is it important to have policies and processes that address the ethical and privacy- and security-related implications of artificial intelligence?

  • Lesson 15:

    We will review feedback on the Section Diagnostic. We will use the feedback to make revisions to our work.

  • Lesson 16:

    We will commence an Independent Reading Program in which we choose texts to read independently as we progress through the unit. We will learn how to choose texts, what activities we may complete, about the final task, and about any materials we will use as we read our independent reading texts. We will begin by reading our texts, using tools to help us take notes and analyze important textual elements.