Learning Outcomes:
On completing this module students should be able to:
- Demonstrate an appreciation for the politics of digital innovation processes and the role of broader institutional contexts in shaping the trajectory of such developments.
- Demonstrate an understanding of the differences between human and machine 'intelligence' and the limitations of 'symbolic', or 'knowledge-based', approaches to AI.
- Demonstrate an understanding of the complexities of human ways of knowing and the limitations of digital technologies for 'managing' or 'sharing' knowledge.
- Critically assess the role of contemporary forms of digital innovation in reshaping important features of social and organisational life, including practices associated with human communication, collaboration, learning, and decision-making.
- Demonstrate an understanding of 'sub-symbolic', or 'connectionist', approaches to AI, as well as an appreciation of the reasons for their recent rise to prominence, and their associated strengths and limitations.
- Demonstrate an understanding of the role of digital data extractivism in the emergence of new modes of social surveillance and control, as well as the associated threats to traditional forms of individual human agency and to broader democratic institutions.
- Demonstrate an understanding of the possible existential and ethical implications of contemporary forms of digital innovation, as well as possible individual, collective, and policy responses.