San Francisco State University is starting a new graduate certificate program in ethical artificial intelligence (AI) to broaden students’ perspectives on autonomous decision-making.
The program, developed by a team of professors from three different colleges across the university, integrates courses from the computer science department, the philosophy department, and the college of business.
Starting next month, the program will impart skills related to the ethical use of AI onto participants by covering critical areas like AI technologies and applications, and ethics and compliance in business and ethical principles.
“The idea is to balance business ethics, philosophy, and AI algorithms and software systems,” Dragutin Petkovic, a professor of computer science who led the creation of the program, said. “We believe that a lot of companies will have to start training people on ethics.”
The program, which allows students to tailor their course load to their particular area of expertise, is open to both San Francisco State master’s students and to those who want to pursue a stand-alone graduate certificate.
It is also designed to fit the needs of professionals from the industry who can use it to continue their educations and gain additional credentials.
Earlier in March, Stanford University boosted its AI technology curricula offerings by launching the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence (HAI). Created through partnerships with governments, non-governmental organizations, and industry, the institute aims to improve the human condition by elevating current artificial intelligence research and policies.