Our society’s economics, ethics, politics, and law—in short, our way of life—is being significantly and rapidly transformed as Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems are embedded in more and more facets of our lives. The course focuses on the ethical issues involved in the latest developments of AI, and in particular on the algorithmic judgment at its core, which as of today is developing at an impressive speed.

The course will give students the opportunity to develop their ability to approach ethical issues in today’s data-driven society. A focus on different practical cases will provide students with the necessary skills to apply knowledge and understanding to specific scenarios.

This course will explore the ethical issues related to digital technologies, in particular AI and algorithms. In addition, the course will cover a range of current issues and topics through the application of important moral theories, exploring how digital technologies often challenge what we know about ethics, politics and law.

The course will be based on collection of top scientific articles and book excerpts. Articles and other materials (cases) will be available through the Luiss Learn platform.

The course will be based on lectures and classes organized around different lecture topics. Classes will entail additional material and cases that will illustrate the key ideas presented on each lecture. Students will be encouraged to actively participate in the lectures through questions, practical and theoretical elaborations.

Assessment will consist of a written assignment. In the written assignment students are required to demonstrate that they are able to: · Understand the foundations of ethics broadly · Understand the foundations of modern and ancient approaches to ethics and their main differences. · Have familiarity with the problems of ethics and some of the possible solutions specifically related to algorithms and AI · Apply their ethical understanding to analyze cases involving algorithms, AI, social media and data.

The overall assessment will take into account the level of knowledge and understanding of the ethical issues in digital technologies; the students’ capacity for thinking creatively, innovatively, and critically; and their capacity to present effectively findings and conclusions.