24.C40/6.C40 About this course

The goal of this course is to explore ethical questions raised by the potentially transformative power of computing technologies. As part of this course, we expect to address questions such as existential risk, the implications of technological progress and the way technical decisions affect how technology and society interact; the course will also cover questions of fairness, privacy and free speech. The course will engage with computing broadly construed, and will cover topics related to AI and machine learning, but also related to the functioning of the internet, cybersecurity and even programming systems.

You can find the current schedule of lectures here.

This a "Common Ground" subject (see below), a joint offering between Course 24 and Course 6 with half the lectures delivered by Prof. Brad Skow from the department of Linguistics and Philosophy and the other half by Prof. Armando Solar-Lezama from EECS.

The course will be graded mostly on the basis of 3 major writing assignments and a final project.

When/Where:

Lecture: TR10 (32-155) Recitation: F10 (56-180) or F11 (56-180) or F12 (66-160)

More about Common Ground Subjects

The Common Ground for Computing Education offers broadly applicable computing classes that bring together multiple disciplinary perspectives for both undergraduate and graduate students. These classes are offered jointly by multiple departments and aim to educate “computing bilinguals” – students fluent in both the “language” of computing and that of their discipline.

Subjects in the Common Ground are identified by  “.C” in the subject number. Each course typically has two or more departmental numbers that share the same number after the “C”. For example, Ethics of Computing is listed under 6.C40 and 24.C40, showing that two departments (6 and 24) are collaborating to teach the same subject (C40).

Learn about other Common Ground offerings here.