Artificial Intelligence and Society

The interdisciplinary AI & Society minor of Leiden University brings together students and lecturers from a wide range of disciplines. Together they look at the impact of AI on society. Chatbots giving you personal advice (or completing your course work), computer generated music and art, smart cars, video games that adapt to your gaming behavior, law enforcement assigning your neighborhood a risk score, insurance rates determined by your behavior, finding your perfect match via an app: Artificial Intelligence (AI) is rapidly and radically transforming our interactions and the structure of our society. Our minor AI and Society provides you a basic understanding of AI and its applications in the world of today and tomorrow.

AI-tools are introduced within our infrastructure, work, communication, interpersonal relations, economy, democracy, health, science etcetera, to overcome limitations and/or increase efficiency, speed, reliability, convenience. Given the impacts across society, AI requires broad action and reflection on its embedding in society. This in turns requires broader knowledge and understanding of what AI is (and also what it is not), how it works, how it impacts our society and how it can (should) be developed, implemented and used responsibly.

Leiden University hosts a broad range of experts on different aspects of AI and its role in Society, and they join forces in creating such broader knowledge and understanding for students in the Minor AI and Society. The minor aims to host students from across all bachelors the university offers. It invites them to explore the perspective their discipline casts on the development and embedding of AI in Society, as well as to develop an understanding of other perspectives. In the interactive parts of the program students will practice with the challenges in integrating the different perspectives towards responsible and trustworthy applications of AI in society.

The minor AI and Society is an initiative and collaboration of the Leiden University SAILS network and will feature teachers from the Faculty of Law, LIACS, the Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs, and the Faculty of Humanities.

Given the didactical design of this interdisciplinary minor, class attendance is required. Courses that are both part of the minor AI and Society and the minor Internetrecht only count towards one minor certificate.