The Past and the Future of Artificial Intelligence
Kenneth Cukier
Instructor
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Kenneth CukierDeputy Executive Editor of The Economist
Categories
About the Course
Mankind is possibly on the verge of its greatest achievement: the creation of intelligence equal to or superior to its own. Will we be gods to our creations, or will they replace us? In this course, Kenneth Cukier, data editor at The Economist, looks at the origins of A.I. to examine the promise of A.I. to its early pioneers, how it works, and what the consequences may be. From the ‘Terminator’ scenario to Google Translate, Cukier describes how A.I. will not only change our odds of survival, but also our understanding of life, freedom, and compassion.
By the end of this course, you will have learnt:
- Why the development of intelligent machines will soon lead to 'superintelligences'.
- How early pioneers used neuroscience to try and map the complexity of the human brain.
- Why we stopped trying to teach machines, and got machines to teach themselves.
- The ways learning algorithms are at work in countless aspects of our daily lives.
- The disruption to our society that these algorithms will have in jobs, policing, and surveillance.
- Why some of the most essential aspects of our humanity may become worthless.
- How the 'King Midas problem' anticipates problems with bad engineering.
- How the 'Terminator problem' anticipates the threat to humanity from superintelligence.
- The difficulties of programming superintelligences capable of moral choice.
- What can be done to protect our species.
As part of the course, there are in-video quiz questions to consolidate your learning, suggested further readings to stimulate a deeper exploration of the topic, discussion boards to have your say, and an end-of-course assessment.
IAI Academy courses are designed to be challenging but accessible to the interested student. No specialist knowledge is required.
About the Instructor
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Kenneth Cukier
Kenneth Cukier is Deputy Executive Editor at The Economist, where he leads coverage on technology and society and co-hosts the weekly tech podcast Babbage. He is co-author of the New York Times bestseller Big Data: A Revolution That Will Transform How We Live, Work, and Think, which helped define the global conversation around data ethics and digital transformation. Cukier argues that while these technologies offer unprecedented opportunities, they also raise urgent ethical questions around privacy, accountability, and power, and stresses the need for clear frameworks that allow innovation to flourish without compromising individual rights or democratic values.
Cukier is also a Senior Fellow at the Oxford Martin School and a frequent speaker on artificial intelligence, digital governance, and innovation. His writing and public engagement continue to shape how business leaders, policymakers, and the public understand the role of data in modern life.
Course Syllabus
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Part One: Counterfeiting a Human MindWhat is artificial intelligence, how does it work and where is it headed? Has AI become indispensable in the modern world?
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Part Two: The Rise of the MachinesDoes A.I. irreversibly transform humanity’s evolution for the worse -- with amoral robots, regulation by algorithm, and little need for people?
Suggested Further Readings
- Cukier, K., Artificial Intelligence: How Machines Learn, Think, and Transform Our World, (London: John Murray, 2021).
- Russell, S., Norvig, P., Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach, (Harlow: Pearson, 2020 [4th edition]).
- Bostrom, N., Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014).
- Tegmark, M., Life 3.0: Being Human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence, (London: Allen Lane, 2017).
- Kurzweil, R., The Singularity is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology, (New York: Viking, 2005).
- Goodfellow, I., Bengio, Y., Courville, A., Deep Learning, (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2016).
- Floridi, L., The Ethics of Artificial Intelligence, in The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, (2020, online).
- McCorduck, P., Machines Who Think: A Personal Inquiry into the History and Prospects of Artificial Intelligence, (Boca Raton: CRC Press, 2004 [2nd edition]).
