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Honors 360 Sections 001 & 002: AI and Human Values

Honors 360: 001
TR 10:30 – 11:45
Innovation 135

Honors 360: 002
TR 12N – 1:15
Innovation 135

The quest for artificial intelligence has led to many types of “narrow AI,” most of which are better than humans at their specific skills (from playing games to predicting the structure of a protein). But the goal for much AI research is Artificial General Intelligence, or AGI. A narrow AI can drive a car, for example, but it can’t play chess or answer a trivia question. An AGI could. Much of the in AI scholarship has been on the risks of AI development: misaligned values, ethical dilemmas, economic concerns. But the rewards are immense: longer, healthier lives, more stable governments, more equitable societies, a cleaner environment, and the exploration of our universe.

This course will begin with some background readings on early AI and automation, the very definition of intelligence, human or otherwise. The course will discuss the benefits of advanced AI, as well as the risks and dangers. We will then explore how we can gain the benefits of while mitigating the risks. As the course proceeds, we will address current ethical questions regarding AI development, including issues of human values and identity.

Course Goals

Honors 360 is a Mason Core Apex course.

Mason Apex courses or in some cases, sequence of courses, will provide Mason students with a high-impact culminating experience, requiring students to utilize critical thinking skills and preparing them for life-long learning. Students are challenged to draw connections across their Mason undergraduate academic experience. Mason Apex courses provide students opportunities to apply and communicate their knowledge, and involve integrative, applied or experiential projects.

Learning Outcomes:

Upon completing a Mason Apex course, students will be able to:

Integrate skills, abilities, theories, or methodologies gained across a Mason student's undergraduate education to explore complex issues in original ways.

Communicate effectively the results of the student's work with awareness of audience, purpose, and context using an appropriate modality (for example: written, oral, visual, material, embodied, multimodal). (https://catalog.gmu.edu/mason-core/)

The essays, discussions, and presentations in this course are designed to meet these goals. You will be required to read, evaluate, analyze, and synthesize material from several disciplines and present your analysis in essays and oral presentations.

Texts
Book:
Stuart Russell, Human Compatible (print or ebook)

PDFs (available on BlackBoard):
Wiener, "Some Moral and Technical Consequences of Automation"
Turing ,"Computing Machinery and Intelligence"
Online Readings throughout the semester are on the course schedule and will be posted on BlackBoard; these are likely to change over the course of the semester. I will also add them to the course Zotero library.

Course Site:
We will use Blackboard for online discussions and essay submissions.

Assignments:

Essay 1: AI in your field (20%)
In this essay, discuss how AI is impacting your chosen field of study. What issues have arisen, and what potential issues can you foresee? What are the potential benefits? What are the risks? How can the benefits be retained while minimizing the risks?

As an example, in many fields, AI may increase productivity, but eliminate jobs.
Be specific about the issues—not just productivity increases but how productivity might increase. Give specific use cases (there are many examples in the popular and trade literature)

The essay should be 3-4 pages, double-spaced. Sources should be popular or trade articles; you do not need scholarly articles for this paper. APA citations are preferred.

I will use this essay to assemble the project groups.

Group Project
Based on Essay and 1 and class feedback, I will assemble research groups based on interests and fields of study. Each group will have a BlackBoard Group and a Zotero library

The group project has four parts:

Group Preliminary Report with sources (15%)
Once groups are assigned, you should begin assembling articles related to the issue you've identified. These can be popular, trade, or scholarly sources. Use Zotero to save the sources to your group's library.

The Preliminary report is a short paper explaining the specific issues your group will address, with a preliminary bibliography of at least 5 sources.

Individual Progress Report (5%)
This short report will ask for your own assessment of the group's progress and your own work within the group.

Group Post with articles and discussion questions (10%)
Two weeks before your group presents their articles to the class, you must post one or two articles to the discussion board. With the articles, post one or two questions to get the class discussion started. I ask for a two-week lead time so that I (and the class) can read the material and consider the questions.

Group Presentations (15%)
Beginning with Week 10, groups will present the articles they've chosen and lead a class discussion on the issue they've identified.

Final Paper: Individual essay on group topics (20%)
In this paper, present your individual findings on the issue your group researched. This should be a research-based paper, though you can include popular and trade sources.
Reflect on your first essay on the impact of AI on your field and advocate for a specific action concerning the issues your group researched. This is an individual reflection and advocacy essay, so first person is allowed.

Has your position on AI changed? If so, how? Use this short paper to explain your current position on AI, and what actions your think are needed (more development or research, less development, education and training, alternatives, bans / restrictions). Be specific and use sources to support your position. Who are the stakeholders – who can implement the actions you are proposing?

You can use the sources from your group project or add your own.
The paper should be 4 - 5 pages, double-spaced, with at least 5 sources.

Include a References (APA) or Works Cited (MLA) section, listing the sources you cited in the paper.

Discussion Posts (15%)
The discussion posts will be due each week, on Mondays. I will leave the discussions open for two weeks, and you may comment on others' posts during that time.

For weeks 10 – 15 (the group presentations) you will only need to comment on one group's questions (though I encourage posting on both). The discussion posts and graded at the end of the course, and the grades are a participation grade. If you have commented each week, you get the points for the discussion.

AI in Your Field	Sunday Sept 8	20%
Group Preliminary Report	Sunday Oct 6	15%
Individual Progress Report	Sunday Oct 20	5%
Research Group Articles and Questions	Weeks 8 – 12	10%
Research Group Presentation	Weeks 10 – 13	15%
Final Paper	Friday Dec 13	20%
Discussion Posts	most weeks before class	15%

Course Policies

GMU Common Course Policies

The following policies are common to all GMU courses:

Information about these policies can be found at the GMU Common Course Policies page.

Technology Policy: For class meetings, you should bring a laptop computer or tablet, as we will do some research and writing in class. Accessing course materials on a cell phone is not optimal, but is acceptable if no other device is available. Please refrain from off-task uses of mobile devices.

All course materials will be available via BlackBoard. Major assignments must be uploaded as file attachments (pdf, doc, docx, odf are all acceptable formats).

Class Participation / Engagement: , I expect everyone to attend class meetings unless they are ill or have an excused absence due to medical, military, or other program activities (sports, forensics, etc). In class discussions and presentations are part of the grade in this course. You may miss up to two classes with no excuses (but you are responsible for the material posted on BlackBoard). If you are ill, you are automatically excused from class--I do not need a doctor's note unless the absence is extended (more than a week).

Grading: Grades on the essays will be based primarily on the quality of the writing. I value clear, focused writing with plenty of examples. The Group Reports and Presentations will be graded on the quality of the sources (reliable and current) and the engagement of the group members with the material. The Blackboard Discussions will be graded at the end of the course, not individually. If you post to every discussion forum and regularly comment on other posts, you will receive full credit for the discussions. You should post to every discussion, and comment on other's posts when appropriate.

I calculate final grades by converting the letter grades to a 100 point scale using the following values:

A+ 97 – 100 (98)	A 93 – 96.9 (95)	A- 90 – 92.9 (91.5)
B+ 87 – 89.9 (88.5)	B 84 – 86.9 (85)	B- 80 – 83.9 (81.5)
C+ 77 – 79.9 (78,5)	C 74 – 76.9 (75)	C- 70 – 73.9 (71.5)
D 60 – 69.9 (65)	F 0 – 59.9 (55)

Midterm Grades: You will receive a midterm grade based on the work of the first half of the semester, which you can view in PatriotWeb. The midterm grades' purpose is to help you understand how well you are doing so that you can make any adjustments necessary. It is not meant to predict your final grade, as the work in the second half of the semester may be weighted more heavily

Late Assignments: BlackBoard sets "end of day" as 11:59 pm when marking an assignment as late. I am not waiting at my computer at midnight to start grading. If an assignment comes in after midnight, I do not consider it late. I don't consider an assignment late until the day after the due date.

I am flexible with deadline extensions on most assignments. Several assignments are group work, however, so you need to be mindful of your group-mates. If you need an extension of a few days, just let me know. Unless you make prior arrangements with me, however, late assignments will be subject to a 10% grade reduction per week.

Revision Policy: The individual assignments (Essay 1, Individual Progress Reports) may be revised for a higher grade, but they must be substantially revised. You cannot lose a grade by revising, but a higher grade is not guaranteed. The Group Preliminary Report may also be revised. All revisions must be submitted within 2 weeks of receiving a grade on the assignment. Assignments may be revised twice, as long as each revision is submitted within two weeks of receiving a grade. However, no revisions or late assignments will be accepted after Nov 26.

The Group Articles and Questions assignment can be revised up to a week before the Group Presentation. The Group Presentation and the Final paper cannot be revised. I grade these assignments with that in mind.

Plagiarism and Academic Standards

It is expected that students adhere to the George Mason University Academic Standards as it relates to integrity regarding coursework and grades. More information about Mason's Academic Standards, including discussion of Honesty, Acknowledgment, and Uniqueness of Work, can be found on the Academic Standards page and Mason's Common Course Policies Page.
Two fundamental principles to follow at all times are:

All work submitted must be your own.
When using the work or ideas of others, you must properly attribute source or resource use

Determinations regarding violations are made by the Office of Academic Standards, which may issue sanctions ranging from grade reductions to course failure to expulsion from GMU.

Generative-AI tools, such as ChatGPT and Microsoft CoPilot, should not be used in this course unless specified by the assignment. Use of such tools presents ethical and academic dishonesty issues, especially if the work is presented as your own. While such tools may be used to generate ideas, brainstorm, or outline larger works, the language in work you submit in this course should always be your own. Submitted work that is not your own is an Academic Standards violation ("Unauthorized use of artificial intelligence software, generative or otherwise ")

I will not use AI-detection software in this course, as it is unreliable and likely makes the generative AI software even less detectable, as the submitted works become part of the generative AI corpus. If you do use generative AI software, you will be responsible for any incorrect, biased, or unethical information that is submitted.

Finally, you must be transparent with your use even on assignments in which you are required or permitted to use Generative AI.

GMU Nondiscrimination Policy: George Mason University is committed to providing an educational and work environment free from any discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, marital status, pregnancy status, or genetic information. George Mason University shall adhere to all applicable state and federal equal opportunity/affirmative action statutes and regulations.

Gender Identity and Pronoun Use: If you wish, please share your name and gender pronouns with me and how best to address you in class and via email. Chosen pronouns (as selected in PatriotWeb) will display wherever a user profile displays in Blackboard courses, such as in discussion boards.

Resources

GMU Library
GMU Writing Center
Zotero (a free, open source bibliographic tool, developed at GMU)
CAPS (Counseling and Psychological Services): CAPS offers free counseling and academic workshops and a 24/7 student crisis line: (703) 993-2380. Services are provided by professional counseling and clinical psychologists, social workers, and counselors. CAPS' individual and group counseling, workshops and outreach programs are designed to enhance students; personal experience and academic performance.
SSAC (Student Support and Advocacy Center): SSAC offers educational programming, one-on-one consultations, and resources in the areas of interpersonal violence, personal wellness, and alcohol and drug use. SSAC manages the Stay Mason Support Fund, which is designed to provide temporary, short-term assistance to students experiencing financial hardship. The fund is available to all students, regardless of immigration status.
Learning Services, located in SUB I, Suite 3600, provides a variety of free, experience-based learning opportunities for the Mason Community through one-on-one academic coaching, academic success workshops, and online resources

Important dates

First day of classes	Monday Aug 26
Labor Day (University Closed)	Monday Sept 2
Last day to add classes– all individualized section forms due	Tuesday Sept 3
Last day to drop with no tuition penalty	Monday Sept 9
Unrestricted Withdrawal Period (100% tuition liability)	Wednesday Sept 18 – Tuesday Oct 1
Fall Break (classes do not meet)	Monday Oct 14
Midterm progress reporting	Monday Sept 23 – Friday Oct 18
Selective Withdrawal period	Wednesday Oct 2 – Monday Oct 28
Election Day (classes do not meet)	Tuesday Nov 4
Thanksgiving Break (University Closed)	Wednesday Nov 27 – Sunday Dec 1
Last Day of classes	Monday Dec 9
Reading Day Reading days provide students with additional study time for final examinations. Faculty may schedule optional study sessions, but regular classes or exams may not be held.	Tuesday Dec 10
Exam Period	Wednesday Dec 11 – Wednesday Dec 18

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.