A heated discussion about the development of artificial intelligence and our future with super-intelligent robots is occurring now in the tech community. Many, including futurists and transhumanists, wholeheartedly embrace the benefits of a technological progress that could perfect our evolution. An increasingly vocal group, including Elon Musk, Stephen Hawking, and Bill Gates, warn, however, that a superintelligence, a trillion times more intelligent than we are, would be no more concerned about human welfare than we are concerned about the welfare of mosquitos. Whether artificial general intelligence will turn out to be our final invention or whether it will be our greatest is the question. We will read representative literature on both sides, along with imaginative science fiction films such as Metropolis, Ex Machina, and Transcendent, that imagine a future with intelligent robots.Philosophy and Critical Theory (PHCRT) courses focus on developing critical reading and thinking skills, with an emphasis on learning to frame and explore meaningful questions. Students consider multiple perspectives and claims in the process of formulating independent, well-founded opinions.

Visit Workday to view this information.