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Lesson 1

We will continue to focus on the following question: How has artificial intelligence affected society? We will look specifically at the job market through the questions: Should people be concerned about the possibility of AI replacing humans in jobs? Will AI create or eliminate jobs? Why or why not?

Lesson Goals

  • Can I express an accurate understanding of the different areas of concern regarding artificial intelligence?

  • Can I look at the first prompt and identify task expectations and develop a plan appropriate for accomplishing the established outcomes?

Texts

Core

  • Unit Reader
    • “The Future of Employment: How Susceptible Are Jobs to Computerisation?,” Carl Benedikt Frey and Michael Osborne, Elsevier Inc., 2016

Materials

Tools

Reference Guides

Question Sets

Editable Google Docs

Activity 1: Write – Discuss

We will infer areas of concern regarding artificial intelligence based on our reading.

In small groups, answer the guiding question:

  1. Based on the texts we have read in the unit so far, what are some major areas of concern regarding artificial intelligence and our society?

Make a group list of areas of concern regarding artificial intelligence and our society.

Then discuss which areas of concern you believe are the most significant. Write the group’s top three choices on a piece of paper.

Pass your top three areas of concern to the group on your right.

Read the areas of concern you received from your neighbor group. Compare your lists.

Activity 2: Discuss

As a whole class, we will discuss the areas of concern regarding AI.

With the teacher facilitating, briefly discuss as a class the areas of concern regarding AI and why people are worried.

Activity 3: Discuss – Write

We will narrow our focus to three major areas of concern and discuss them in small groups.

Consider the following areas in AI:

  • job market

  • machine learning and decision-making

  • privacy

In your small group, discuss what you think each area involves and how it relates to areas of concern your group identified.

Take notes in your Learning Log as your group discusses why the three listed areas might be of concern to society.

Think about the following guiding questions during your discussion:

  1. How could this area of concern affect you?

  2. How could this area of concern affect people who live in your city?

Activity 4: Discuss

We will prepare to research each area of concern by unpacking a prompt.

Your teacher will lead a discussion that unpacks the first subtopic question from the Culminating Task Checklist: Should people be concerned about the possibility of artificial intelligence replacing humans in jobs across many different fields? Will artificial intelligence create or eliminate jobs? Why or why not?

Use the following guiding questions in your discussion:

  1. What form of writing does this prompt require?

  2. Who or what is the focus of the prompt?

  3. What is the prompt asking you to do?

  4. What information do you need to complete the task?

Activity 5: Read – Write

We will use our reading strategies and skills to examine excerpts from the study, “The Future Of Employment: How Susceptible Are Jobs To Computerisation?”

Step 1

Access the text “The Future of Employment: How Susceptible Are Jobs to Computerisation?” online.

Use the four-step reading strategy we practiced in Section 1.

Step 2

Skim

Skim the abstract as a class.

  • Read the abstract.

  • Underline unfamiliar words you must know in order to understand the abstract.

  • What does the abstract tell you about the purpose, methodology, and major findings of the research study?

Skim the excerpt from Sections 5 and 6 (pp. 39-48) as a class.

  • Find bold words and headings.

  • Look at graphs and tables.

Step 3

Read

Read the first few paragraphs of Section 5: Employment in the Twenty-First Century as a class.

  • Underline unfamiliar words.

  • Summarize what you read.

Step 4

Reread

Reread Paragraph 2 with the focus on the following questions:

  1. What does the abstract tell you about the purpose, methodology, and major findings of the research study?

  2. In Section 5, what does it mean that 47 percent of total US employment is in the high-risk category? How do the authors explain this statistic?

  3. In the first wave of computerization, what jobs are projected to be in the high-risk category?

Step 5

Interpret

Interpret Figure 3 (p. 40) as a class.

Use the color-coded data key to interpret and discuss the data.

  1. Which occupational employment fields are most highly represented in the “High - 47% employment” section of the graphic display?

  2. Which occupational employment fields are most highly represented in the “Low - 33% employment” section of the graphic display?

  3. How do the data support the observations and claims made by the author about the first wave of computerization of jobs?

  4. What are the potential implications of the data for future careers and employment in the US?

Activity 6: Read – Write

For homework, read the rest of the excerpt from “The Future Of Employment: How Susceptible Are Jobs To Computerisation?”

For homework, read the rest of Sections 5 and 6 from "The Future of Employment: How Susceptible Are Jobs to Computerisation?"

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

Reread the article, focusing on these guiding questions:

  1. What does it mean if an occupational employment field is in the high-risk category? What fields and types of jobs are in the high-risk category?

  2. Which occupations are likely to be the least susceptible to computerization?

  3. What types of intelligence or skills might lead to a lower probability of machines taking over jobs?

Interpret the following question:

  1. Why might this paper have set off alarm bells and helped kickstart the future of work conversations?