The second edition of the course ‘Artificial Intelligence: Technology, Governance and Policy Frameworks’ offered by DiploFoundation took place from 4 October to 13 December 2019. One of the goals of the course was to combine sound theoretical knowledge with a hands-on approach. This was achieved by proposing practical exercises. An example was the final assignment, in which participants were given the choice to write a blog post on an AI-related topic. The authors of the best blog posts have been offered the opportunity to publish their texts. This special blog series on AI showcases their work. Three texts were selected to be part of this blog series. In ‘A future inevitable’, Abhilash Babu Vinayak uses ‘The Matrix’ trilogy as a time reference to show the vertiginous speed of change brought by technology in the last decades. He questions whether our generation is trading convenience for freedom, and how AI, in particular, may affect our humanity and the core values that have guided mankind. Abhilash’s blog is available here. In the blog post ‘Is the future here, yet?’, Jelena Dincic provides an overview of AI and identifies some of the ways in which it could help mankind. She also outlines some challenges related to, for example, the malicious use of AI, the potential bias embedded in the technology, as well as privacy concerns, suggesting some ways to constructively seek solutions. Jelena’s blog is available here. Jesus Cisneros calls attention to the pervasiveness of AI, which is increasingly used to enhance efficiency in several areas, from entertainment to surveillance and decision-making. In his text ‘Keeping AI in check’, he welcomes the growing awareness about the interplay between AI, ethics, and human rights. He suggests that a flexible but effective regulatory framework is needed to keep AI under scrutiny. Jesus’ blog is available here. By publishing this blog series, we hope that the reflections and insights proposed by our alumni contribute to the broader debate on the opportunities and challenges posed by AI, and on the way to tackle them collectively. The next session of the course on Artificial Intelligence: Technology, Governance, and Policy Frameworks will be offered in May 2020 and applications will be open until 30 March.
