Course Outline

Foundations of Ethics in Autonomous Systems

  • Defining autonomy within artificial intelligence (AI) systems
  • Application of key ethical theories to machine behavior
  • Stakeholder perspectives and value-sensitive design principles

Societal Risks and High-Stakes Use Cases

  • Deployment of autonomous agents in public safety, health care, and defense for government operations
  • Collaboration between humans and AI systems and the boundaries of trust
  • Scenarios of unintended consequences and risk amplification in high-stakes environments

Legal and Regulatory Landscape

  • Overview of AI legislation and policy trends, including the EU AI Act, NIST guidelines, and OECD recommendations for government use
  • Accountability, liability, and the legal status of AI agents
  • Global governance initiatives and existing gaps in regulatory frameworks

Explainability and Decision Transparency

  • Challenges associated with opaque autonomous decision-making processes
  • Design principles for creating explainable and auditable AI systems
  • Tools and frameworks for enhancing transparency, such as model cards and datasheets

Alignment, Control, and Moral Responsibility

  • Strategies for aligning AI agent behavior with ethical standards
  • Comparative analysis of human-in-the-loop versus human-on-the-loop control paradigms
  • Shared responsibility among designers, users, and institutions in managing moral obligations

Ethical Risk Assessment and Mitigation

  • Methods for risk mapping and critical failure analysis in the design of autonomous agents
  • Implementation of safeguards and off-switch mechanisms to prevent harm
  • Techniques for bias, discrimination, and fairness auditing in AI systems

Governance Design and Institutional Oversight

  • Principles guiding responsible AI governance for government agencies
  • Multistakeholder oversight models and audit processes to ensure accountability
  • Development of compliance frameworks tailored to the unique challenges of autonomous agents

Summary and Next Steps

Requirements

  • Proficiency in artificial intelligence systems and the foundational principles of machine learning
  • Knowledge of autonomous agents and their practical applications
  • Understanding of ethical and legal frameworks relevant to technology policy for government

Audience

  • AI ethicists
  • Policy makers and regulators
  • Advanced AI practitioners and researchers
 14 Hours

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