Sustainable Development Goals
Abstract/Objectives
The future is now. We are entering a new world of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Rapid developments of technologies have transformed AI from academic research projects to emerging forces that can shape the ways in which individuals, business organizations, and governments interact. This seminar (whose inception in 2017 marked the first of its kind in Taiwan) explores many of the legal, social, and political implications of the rise in AI, robots, algorithms, and brain-machine interface. Through the assigned readings and weekly discussion, this Seminar seeks to guide students in identifying the promises and perils of AI and in mapping critical challenges facing users, lawyers, engineers, and policymakers across the globe. Besides a general background of AI, the course will focus on, more specifically, the values and ethics of AI, regulatory design and automated vehicles, autonomous weapon systems and international humanitarian law, algorithmic bias and justice, surveillance and social control, and other problems of accountability, transparency. While other governance issues are of no less importance in the modern society (such as automation and labor, ownership and antitrust, data and privacy protection, and AI/robotic agent personhood), the course is not able to cover all of them within a limited timeframe.
Results/Contributions

This seminar was a pioneer in being the first of its kind, introducing participants to an overview of social, legal and regulatory issues of artificial intelligence, while providing a forum for discussion. Through the seminar, participants will not only become knowledgeable and familiar to up-to-date developments in industry and innovations regarding AI, it endeavors to provoke deep thoughts of societal values and ethics, competing interests between innovation and protection, the benefits of efficiency and the risks of discrimination/bias against the marginalized or underrepresented groups, and others.

 

In addition to inspired discussions during the seminar, two other methods for participants to interact with the Professor could potentially produce satisfying results. First, participants can write reaction/position papers out of 9 topics available before class. The Professor will not only provide comments on these papers, but also integrate opinions and reactions from these papers into the seminar. Thus, the ideas and opinions can be well-elaborated on by the participants, while inputs from other participants and the Professor can enhance the depth and discussions on the variables regarding the opinion. The other method of participation is through the final report, in which participants are asked to choose a topic related to AI and make a presentation on that topic of interest. Participants will conduct in-depth research onto the decided topic and present them to the seminar, receiving feedback and comments from both the Professor and fellow participants. These reports not only increase the knowledge of participants, but could inspire participants into drafting article or adopted as their thesis. 

Keywords
Artificial intelligencealgorithmic governanceregulatory theoryinstitutional designrule of lawaccountabilitytransparency
References
1. (N/A)

Contact Information
林勤富
chingfulin@mx.nthu.edu.tw