About this course
Artificial
Intelligence is booming. AI-enabled systems are becoming ubiquitous. New AI
solutions are being created to address business, environmental, political and
technical challenges. At the same time, there is concern about the impact of AI
on public discourse, in consumer settings, in education.
AI is a
technology within broader cybernetic systems, encompassing complex interactions
of human, technological and ecological factors. In this course participants will learn how to
use a cybernetic lens to unpack AI stories and reflect on new ways to talk
productively about AI without being beholden to existing technological
narratives. We will look at AI-enabled systems as cybernetic systems and
explore how interactions within and between the components of the system can
lead to unexpected outcomes. Finally, we will consider different potential
future scenarios for AI-enabled systems, analysing the possibility and
preferability of different possible futures to inform our present-day decisions
and actions. These topics will be explained through practical examples
and case studies drawn from industry, government and community settings.
Program (Revised 24 February 2022)
- 9:00 - PANIC!
Playing with AI tools
- 9:30 - Exploring
Cybernetics in the 21st Century
- 10:00 - Morning
tea
- 10:30 - Analysing
AI Stories
- 11:30 - Generating
Preferable AI Futures
- 12:30 - Lunch
- 1:30 - Using
the ‘Cybernetic Star’ Analysis Tool
- 3:00 - Afternoon
tea
- 3:30 - Enacting
Change in the Present
- 4:30 - Wrap
up
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, participants will be able to:
- Articulate the link between cybernetics and AI
- Use cybernetic analysis tools to explore how AI
systems can impact wider systems and lead to unexpected outcomes
- Imagine
and articulate multiple visions of our AI-enabled future informed by a
cybernetic approach to feedback cycles, people, technology, and the environment
Audience
This course will suit anyone who has
an interest in AI and its application in industry, government and education. In
the course, you will draw on your understanding of AI and its impacts as you employ
analytical tools from cybernetics. The techniques you learn in this course will
be immediately applicable for anyone who works in AI or in the organisational
contexts where it is (or could be) deployed.
Preparation activities
In the weeks preceding the course, participants will be
invited to share some of their thoughts about AI through an anonymous online
survey. The course will be tailored to the interests and needs of participants
based on the responses to the survey.
Fee
The fee for these workshops will be
$940 per person.