ITE 229: Artificial Intelligence and Ethics

Course Description

In this course, you will analyze the ethics of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the fields of management, business, software development, information technology, and healthcare. You will use contemporary ethical frameworks, decision-making tools, and risk models to analyze case studies and evidence, and create evidence-based ethical guidelines and governance principles for the appropriate and productive use of AI in the workplace. (3 credits)

Prerequisite

• None

Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs)

Students who successfully complete this course will be able to:

1. Apply ethical principles to critically examine and address AI decision-making challenges across management, business, software development, IT, and healthcare contexts, including utilitarianism, deontology, and virtue ethics.
2. Assess potential ethical risks and implications associated with AI systems, such as bias, discrimination, privacy, transparency, accountability, and environmental impact, and propose and support evidence-based recommendations for their mitigation.
3. Evaluate AI software development practices and code for ethical considerations, such as transparency, fairness, and accountability, and demonstrate the application of bias detection techniques and tools using industry-recognized standards.
4. Critique the ethical, legal, and organizational aspects of AI-enabled surveillance and data collection and propose and support policies that address ethical considerations and balance organizational goals with privacy rights.
5. Analyze the ethical and business consequences of AI-related errors or failures, and propose and support measures to mitigate them, including governance strategies that balance risk reduction and responsible innovation.
6. Develop a risk assessment and compliance plan for AI applications, considering appropriate regulatory requirements, fairness considerations, and industry or domain-specific standards, particularly in high-stakes or sensitive contexts.
7. Compare and contrast different national and international AI policy frameworks and justify the most effective one for promoting ethical AI development and use.
8. Create and present an ethical AI implementation proposal that synthesizes the concepts of risk analysis, compliance planning, governance, and stakeholder engagement and communication using written and oral communication skills.

Course Activities and Grading

Required Textbooks

• This course uses Open Educational Resources (OER). OER are openly licensed, educational resources that can be used for teaching, learning and research. OER may consist of a variety of resources such as textbooks, videos and software that are no cost for students.

Course Schedule

COSC Accessibility Statement

Charter Oak State College encourages students with disabilities, including non-visible disabilities such as chronic diseases, learning disabilities, head injury, attention deficit/hyperactive disorder, or psychiatric disabilities, to discuss appropriate accommodations with the Office of Accessibility Services at OAS@charteroak.edu.

COSC Policies, Course Policies, Academic Support Services and Resources

Students are responsible for knowing all Charter Oak State College (COSC) institutional policies, course-specific policies, procedures, and available academic support services and resources. Please see COSC Policies for COSC institutional policies, and see also specific policies related to this course. See COSC Resources for information regarding available academic support services and resources.