Technology and Data

How can we ensure that the values of AI are aligned with our own? What ethical principles should we program AI with? How can we ensure that it benefits our lives? And what effects will it have on our lives, both in the workplace and in the home?



What previous students say

"The entire content of the course is fantastic, stimulating and exciting. There is nothing I would change about the content."
"The professor has been one of the most interesting and engaging teachers I have had so far. All lectures, despite being online, have felt like a proper discussion between lecturer and other students."

What will I do in this module?

This module has three key elements:

  1. A set of online learning resources, including weekly videos, readings, and links on Canvas.
  2. A weekly interactive lecture with polls, chat and short activities.
  3. A weekly discussion workshop (for smaller seminar groups) to discuss topics in more depth.

What skills will I develop?

You'll learn how to examine one topic from a variety of angles, thinking about how issues from one area (e.g., computer science) can alter and affect issues from other areas (e.g., politics or art).

This module explores the use and abuse of numbers, and other forms of data, in communications through data-driven storytelling.

The module is built around the four main themes of data-driven storytelling: context, data, narrative and design. Through these themes we investigate areas such as language, colour, numbers, emotion and bias and how they influence data-driven storytelling.



What previous students say

"I feel very good about the skills I’ve built in this course. I can look at a data story and see the different elements to it rather than just take the creator’s word on it."
"My understanding of how to communicate an idea has been increased by this module, since it has taught me that the way you present information is as important if not more so than the information being communicated."

What will I do in this module?

This module has three key elements:

  1. It takes the form of ‘flipped learning’, which means that the lectures and support materials are provided before each timetabled class.
  2. The timetabled sessions are made up of a series of activities aimed at preparing you to create a good-quality data story.
  3. While you'll be assessed as an individual, you'll undertake these activities in groups, and there's a strong expectation that you'll engage with your group in class so that you can all get the most out of our time together.

What skills will I develop?

  • Critical thinking
  • Reflective writing
  • Principles of design
  • Assessment literacy
  • Data literacy
  • Graphicacy
  • Team working
  • Storyboarding and creating presentations for a variety of different audiences.

This module asks, ‘how can we anticipate potential, unintended consequences of introducing new technologies on different groups or individuals?’.

To do this, we'll investigate current and emerging scenarios of technology transformation and its wider impact on society from a socio-economic and ethical-legal perspective.

We'll then apply practical techniques to consider how information technologies could be used in new, near-future situations and anticipate their potential impact in a fictional world.



What previous students say

"Lectures were perfectly organised, run smoothly and clear."

What will I do in this module?

This module has three key elements:

  1. You'll choose an emerging information technology to explore, and a fictional situation to apply this new technology to.
  2. You'll then use methods rooted in science and technology and design and literature to explain anticipated and unanticipated consequences of the technology in this situation.
  3. You'll get experience in reflection, which is an important skill for advancing learning.

What skills will I develop?

  • Self-awareness around technology
  • Critical evaluation of interdisciplinary methods
  • Written communication
  • Academic
  • Ability to reflect
  • Research