Entry requirements

General eligibility for university studies and English level 2 + 30 credits from completed course(s)

Progression level in relation to degree requirements

This course is not part of any main field of studies

Course contents

This course offers students a chance to apply social science methods to understand the global politics of artificial intelligence, and the transnational social powers involved in their design, deployment, and regulation. Building upon new research at the department, it explores AI from four core themes: a) global governance & geopolitics, b) global production chains & international political economy, c) ethics & society, and d) decision-making & democracy.

In all three themes the course draws out the embryonic political practices and relations that have enabled the present state of AI and uses new interdisciplinary interventions to speculate on its future. In so doing, the course provides students with a firm grasp on the interdisciplinary topic of the global politics of AI and helps them utilize the social sciences to study these emerging technologies. Discussions focus on the real-world context in which AI has emerged, helping students better understand how to think about and work critically within the major technological innovation of our times.

The specific course content is designed to be flexible to ensure it remains current and will be announced in sufficient time prior to the course start.

Learning outcomes

1. On completion of the course students shall be able to:
   Develop an overview of the global politics of AI, including the utility of the Social Sciences and Humanities in studying it.
2. To demonstrate awareness of the political challenges and ethics relevant to emerging AI regulations.
3. To demonstrate awareness of the global political-economic character of AI with respect to its development and implementation.
4. To be able to identify and study the role of key actors – including intergovernmental bodies, states, private firms, civil society, and social movements – in the global politics of AI.
5. To be able to engage with ongoing debates on the global politics of AI.
6. To apply that knowledge to the real world context of AI development, design, and deployment.

Learning activities

Lectures, seminars, and presentations

Assessment

The course is examined through a combination of a) independent writing of a paper, which is presented orally and in writing (ILOs 1-4, 6); and, b) active participation in the seminars (ILO 5).

Course literature

• Crawford, Kate (2021) Atlas of AI (New Haven: Yale University Press).

Additional course literature will consist of articles and other publications available online – either open access or via Malmö University’s website – to be announced closer to the course start so as to ensure their continued relevance to ongoing developments in AI.

Course evaluation

Malmö University provides students who participate in, or who have completed a course, with the opportunity to express their opinions and describe their experiences of the course by completing a course evaluation administered by the University. The University will compile and summarise the results of course evaluations. The University will also inform participants of the results and any decisions relating to measures taken in response to the course evaluations. The results will be made available to the students (HF 1:14).

Interim rules

If a course is no longer offered, or has undergone significant changes, the students must be offered two opportunities for re-examination based on the syllabus that applied at the time of registration, for a period of one year after the changes have been implemented.

Additional information

If a student has a Learning support decision, the examiner has the right to provide the student with an adapted test, or to allow the student to take the exam in a different format. The syllabus is a translation of a Swedish source text.