AI and Ethics Education: Walking a tightrope between the exploration of new frontiers and human rights
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As an emerging technology, artificial intelligence (AI) offers both significant potential and considerable risks, sparking discussions about the ethical challenges associated with its development and application. Researchers agree on the importance of incorporating AI ethics into educational curricula; however, initiatives to promote critical discussions remain limited. The lack of a comprehensive approach to teaching AI ethics highlights the necessity for educational institutions to evolve, ensuring that students across all disciplines gain the knowledge and tools needed to navigate the intricate ethical terrain of AI. This is particularly true for science and engineering students, as they are the future AI designers and developers. To address this concern, the current study’s goal was to examine the role of an explicit-reflective learning module about AI ethics in fostering ethical awareness and problem-solving skills. Using a mixed-methods approach, data from around 330 science and engineering students were collected through pre-and post-questionnaires with closed- and open-ended questions. Findings show that after completing the learning module, the disparity between students’ perceived and actual ethical awareness decreased. Analysis of students’ responses revealed an increase in their ability to identify and articulate concerns relating to ‘breach of privacy’, ‘faulty datasets’, and ‘biased social representation’. There was a significant increase in students’ assertions regarding the need to reduce risks to users and consider the impact of AI on society. The study emphasizes the importance of not only developing students’ ability to recognize AI-related ethical issues but also enhancing their capacity to address and mitigate the impact of these ethical dilemmas. The study points to the important role of explicit-reflective learning in preparing future science and engineering professionals with the skills necessary for ethical decision-making in an ever-evolving technological world.
Bio
Dr. Miri Barak is a Professor of Science and Engineering Education, with special interest in digital learning and the promotion of 21st century competencies. Her work is guided mainly by constructivist and social-constructivist theories, seeking to provide conceptual frameworks for understanding the mechanisms of teaching and learning in technology-enhanced environments. She leads the Science and Learning Technologies (SLT) group, which focuses on the investigation of innovation cultivation and ethics of artificial intelligence. Prof. Barak graduated Cum Laude from the Technion’s Faculty of Food Engineering and Biotechnology and worked as an R&D Engineer in the industry. She received her MSc and PhD degrees at the Technion and was a postdoctoral fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, US. Currently she is an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Oxford, UK. She is a PI and co-PI of a number of national and international projects, and her academic work is presented in peer-reviewed papers and book chapters in leading international and national publications: ORCID #0000-0002-7756-6171.
Dr. Maya Usher is a Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Instructional Technologies at Holon Institute of Technology and a Research Associate at the Faculty of Education in Science and Technology, Technion (IIT). Her current research focuses on the integration of Generative AI into higher education and its impact on learning, teaching, and assessment. Her research seeks to leverage technology to enhance learning processes and outcomes, aiming to create an educational landscape that is both innovative and ethically grounded. Dr. Usher’s academic work is presented in in leading international and national publications: ORCID #0000-0002-8895-5375.
