AI & Human Agency
Course Proposal by Dr. Nathan C. Walker currently under review
AI & Human Agency explores the intersection of artificial intelligence, ethics, and online behavior, focusing on values alignment and digital citizenship. The course asks: Who articulates the values, and who does the aligning? Who defines what is ethical, and who regulates technology development and use, and with what intent and impact? Students examine moderation practices in light of the introduction of Self-Reflection Technology, where AI agents assist individuals in building personal ethical frameworks to guide their technology use. Overall, the course, divided into five units, exposes students to timely ethical questions about self-determination and collective responsibility in the age of AI.
Unit I, The Landscape, Week 1, Digital Culture, surveying current practices of content moderation and oversight of online behavior. Week 2, AI Ethics, explores how the movement for responsible AI influences every stage of the AI lifecycle, from development to deployment and monitoring. Students will discuss how ethics overlap with and diverge from corporate policies and domestic and international laws. In Week 3, Human Agency, students examine the psychological challenges that arise in a digital age, including social isolation, addiction, lack of impulse control, and the erosion of self-worth and self-efficacy.
Unit II, Self-Reflection Technology, Week 4, AI Agents, introduces SRT designed to personalize one’s technology use through personal AI coaching. Week 5, Ethical Frameworks, explores how humans exercise their self-determination when training their AI coach, thereby, setting ethical parameters for their use of technology, whether through devices, software, social media, or e-commerce. In Week 6, Custom Constitutions, learners explore how SRT empowers individuals to share ethical frameworks, learn from one another’s insights, and build custom constitutions for individuals and communities.
Unit III, WISE Case Studies in Values Alignment, focuses on how ethical frameworks are applied in real-world situations. For instance, Week 7, African Ethics, examines how users trained their AI agents to embody ethical principles such as ubuntu (“I am because we are” from South Africa), harambee (“all pull together,” Kenya), ujamaa (“familyhood,” Tanzania), and sankofa (“go back and get it,” Ghana). In Week 8, Spiritual Practices, the course looks at how users’ spiritual practices shape their ethical standpoints, exploring concepts such as mitakuye oyasin (“all my relations” from the Oglala Lakota), deep listening and loving speech (Zen Buddhism), salat/prayer and zakat/charity (Islam), forgiveness/Yom Kippur (Judaism), and satyagraha (nonviolent resistance in Hinduism).
Unit IV, WISE Case Studies in Digital Citizenship, continues with Week 9, From Users to Members, where students explore how self-reflection technology elevates individuals from passive users of technology to members of SRT communities that actively contribute to digital culture. In Week 10, Collective Agency, students reflect on how individual rights of conscience can democratize the field of AI Ethics by inspiring collective consciousness and taking shared responsibility for the quality of our digital engagement.
Unit V, Final Projects, empowers learners to propose their own self-reflection technology by proposing strategies for training their personal AI coaches. How will their custom frameworks help them live out their values, considering their unique commitments, identities, and standpoints? By engaging these questions and materials, students will ultimately reflect on the challenge to ensure that the “century’s technological advancements must be matched by comparable advancements in human relations.”
