New critical AI literacy course explores the changing relationship between people and intelligent technologies.
AI and Society: A Critical Inquiry explores artificial intelligence beyond its immediate technical applications, asking larger questions about intelligence, consciousness, judgement, human agency and the changing relationship between people and intelligent technologies.
Designed for everyone who has wondered about the bigger, more philosophical questions related to Artificial Intelligence and would like to explore them, it’s an online synchronous course including live lectures and discussions.
This is a general interest course that takes a critical perspective, says Rod Lastra, content provider and instructor. Lastra is the AI and digital innovation academic specialist for Extended Education. “This is an AI course, but one that examines AI as more than a technology. We will look at how contemporary AI works while also considering what it means for intelligence, thought, judgment, consciousness, agency, and society.”
Lastra became fascinated with computational intelligence while working on his degree in computational biology (quantitative and theoretical ecology) at UM in the 1990s. In 2024, he consulted with UNESCO to advise on AI’s implications for teaching in South America. He is also involved with an internation in developing an AI model that supports mobility of credits.
This is really about critical AI literacy and the development of informed human judgement, says Lastra. “The value of the course is not simply in what you learn about AI, but in what you take away and apply. It can inform how we think, how we exercise judgement, and ultimately how we choose to work and live in an increasingly AI-mediated world.”
Lastra will provide his own extensive notes as a textbook for this course and has plans to publish them. The notes look at the philosophy of AI, the technology and its history, and the judgements surrounding it. Among the questions to be explored in the course: What is intelligence and consciousness? Could a machine be conscious, and what would count as evidence? What is judgement?
While many AI leaders offer quick answers, Lastra says his course will instead provide strong pillars of information and approach the big questions with humility, also offering his own personal anecdotes for discussion.
“As we are living in a time where everything has to be more efficient, and we have a technology to do that, are we using it to think deeper or just to churn out more? What are we giving up? Let’s take the time to pause and contemplate what we are doing. What should we augment, what should we delegate, and what forms of thinking and judgement should we be reluctant to surrender?”
In the course, perspectives from philosophy, technological history, cognitive science, media theory, and contemporary AI research will help learners become what Lastra calls “objective skeptics”, willing to question both exaggerated claims about AI and overly confident dismissals of its possibilities.
“Sometimes there is no clear answer. The goal is to develop the judgement needed to live with that uncertainty and still think critically about the claims being made.”
UM is home to researchers and scholars who respond to emerging issues and lead innovation in our province and around the world. Creating knowledge that matters is one of the strategic themes you’ll find in MomentUM: Leading change together the University of Manitoba’s 2024–2029 strategic plan.
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From June 29 to July 27, UM students, staff and faculty can apply at no cost
