MSt in Artificial Intelligence Ethics and Society

Artificial intelligence (AI) technology is rapidly developing and is increasingly being applied across sectors, posing significant ethical and societal challenges. Therefore, there is a national and global need to adequately equip future leaders and decision-makers to address these challenges adequately. The Masters of Studies in AI Ethics and Society addresses this need. The MSt is an academically rigorous part-time program aimed at professionals from business, public, and social sectors working with AI. The program will provide students with the critical skills, knowledge, and analytical abilities needed to identify and address ethical challenges as they arise in practice from the application of AI. The MSt will engage with AI's ethical and societal challenges and is thoroughly informed by the knowledge, theories, and methods of established academic disciplines from philosophy to computer science.

The MSt AI Ethics and Society are developed and taught by the University's Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence (LCFI), a global research centre at the forefront of AI Ethics and impact research, in partnership with the Institute of Continuing Education. Because the program is run by a specialist research centre, rather than by a department, the curriculum is uniquely multidisciplinary, informed by up-to-the-minute research developments, and incorporates experts from diverse areas, including philosophy, machine learning, computer science, policy, law, and more.

The program aims to equip students with the skills and knowledge necessary to address the ethical and societal challenges arising from Artificial Intelligence. It provides professionally relevant teaching and learning environment informed by the forefront of academic research on AI and its ethical and societal impacts.

The program will:

Ensure that engagement with the ethical and societal challenges of AI is thoroughly informed by the knowledge, theories, and methods of relevant established academic disciplines;

Provide a critical overview of the state of current interdisciplinary research on the challenges of AI;

Develop the critical research skills and analytical abilities needed to identify and address ethical challenges as they arise in practice from applications of AI;

Instill thorough knowledge of the role that different governance approaches can play in navigating the challenges of AI and the ability to analyze those approaches critically;

Develop experts in the ethical and societal implications of AI with the ability and initiative to identify and address the challenges of AI across sectors and society;

Create a network for such experts to collaborate and continue learning as leaders in AI ethics and governance.

By the end of this program, students will be able to:

Discuss the ethical and societal challenges of AI with a full understanding of its history and its relationship to other disciplines and technologies;

Identify the capabilities of current AI systems, their key applications, and the potential ethical and societal challenges of those applications;

Evaluate key ethical and societal challenges arising from the use of AI and the existing critical literature;

Apply theories and methodologies from a range of established disciplines and demonstrate their use in addressing ethical and societal challenges raised by AI;

Analyze the strengths and weaknesses of current governance approaches for addressing the challenges posed by AI;

Apply the systematic understanding of AI ethics and governance to develop new insights.

Too many women continue to experience environments where their achievements and voices are not recognized or heard. The fact that gender inequality still exists is one reason why there is still a need for a College that can focus specifically on women's learning and preparation for work and life.

At the Murray Edwards College University of Cambridge, we prioritize women's educational experience and achievement by identifying and training strong supervisors and tutors. We complement this for students with popular workshops on effective learning using our own peer advisers via our unique Gateway Programme. We promote a wider understanding of the issues for women relating to implicit bias and stereotype threat.