CSSE 490: Impact of AI
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
Computer Science and Software Engineering Department
Syllabus
Fall 2024/25

In this course, we will study the projected impact of AI and how to best manage it. This is an open field with a lot of opportunities for progress. In other words, people just don’t know how to respond to the powerful AI systems under development. Some people believe that we are just one innovation away from Artificial General Intelligence (AGI). It is expected that AGI is going to be very disruptive. Even if AGI takes many years to materialize, there are applications of AI, the roll-out of which should be managed. There are several strategies that can be employed, from self-government by companies to specific requirements of AI systems to regulation. Some propose to develop beneficial AI, those are systems that are designed to be helpful to people.

This is a research course in which we study the projected impact of AI and ways in which to manage the impact. Students will read, study and present existing work. Small teams of students will propose and work on a research project aimed at studying the impact or developing means to manage it. In lie of writing a scientific paper, I am happy to accept proposals for creative work that is aimed at explaining to people the potential future of AI.

Please notice that we will likely not write any code in this class. Instead, we will do a lot of deep thinking and discussing issues.

Prerequisites

CSSE 230 or equivalent. Junior standing.

Instructor

Michael Wollowski

Course Objectives

There are three main objectives for the course. They are:

Advice

Some of the materials we will be reading and dicussing in this course may be disturbing. Please maintain a strong mental attitude throughout this course.

Schedule

Grading

Participation (such as participation and preparedness for in-class discussions, participation in newsgroup discussions, willingness to scour for information, effort you put into the course.) 10%
Presentations (about 6, together with a partner) 30%
Project/Experiments 60%

Citizenship

The success of this course depends on your active participation in class.

Please come to class prepared and do things that contribute to your learning and that of others.

Please avoid behavior that is distracting to your learning and that of others. Examples of unaccaptable behavior are: reading newspapers in class, using your computer for things unrelated to the course, sleeping in class. If I see such behavior I will ask you to explain yourself. If you do not have a reasonable explanation, I will ask you to drop the course and may give you a 0 for your participation score.

Academic Integrity

All the work you turn in must be your own. Please acknowledge any sources and help you received. The use of generative AI is encouraged in this course. However, please acknowledge its use and feel free to evaluate its usefulness.