AI: A Survey for Policymakers

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning have emerged as ubiquitous technologies in a wide range of areas, such as finance, healthcare, consumer internet platforms, and advertising, in addition to several domains in the public sector, including but not limited to law enforcement. In the past several years, ethical questions about how and whether to use AI for particular tasks have become much more prominent, partly due to its widespread use and partly due to publicly documented failures or shortcomings of a number of systems that can negatively impact people in sometimes serious ways.

This course will provide a broad overview of practical and ethical questions related to AI — such as those related to privacy, cybersecurity, fairness, transparency, and more — with a view towards policymaking. Policymaking will be interpreted broadly, including both the public and private sectors. The course will include a survey of how machine learning works so as to ground the discussion. 

The instructor recently served as the first Director of AI for New York City and will draw on this experience, which included collaborations with a number of other city governments internationally. The course will discuss and highlight a range of topics in urban policy and urban affairs, using concrete examples and case studies. There will also be opportunities for students to apply the material to areas in the Global South and other areas of interest.