FIT1059 · Artificial intelligence: Concepts and tools for impact

Overview

AI is reshaping how people learn, work, create, communicate and make decisions, but its impact depends on the values, choices and systems that shape how it is designed and used. This unit introduces artificial intelligence as both a set of powerful technologies and a sociotechnical force with significant social, ethical, environmental, political and economic consequences. You will explore foundational AI concepts, engage with contemporary AI tools, and examine how design frameworks can guide the creation, evaluation and improvement of AI-enabled systems. Through practical activities and case studies, you will investigate how AI systems are developed and used, how trust and authority are attached to AI outputs, how AI can reproduce or amplify inequities, and how incentives, institutions and infrastructure shape the direction of AI development. The unit develops your ability to use and evaluate AI tools critically, responsibly and effectively. You will analyse existing AI technologies, consider their impacts across different communities and contexts, and propose ways they could be redesigned or governed to better align with societal values, responsible innovation practices and equitable outcomes.

Offerings

Assessment

The Handbook does not list a final examination among the assessment items. That is not a guarantee there is none.

Assessment details may change. Please refer to the assessment information in Moodle closer to the start of the teaching period.

Requisites

The Handbook lists no prerequisite, corequisite or prohibition for this unit.

Learning outcomes

1. Explain the similarities and differences between artificial intelligence and other technologies in the context of their introduction to society and the environment;
2. Communicate the strengths, potential benefits, limitations and impacts of applying artificial intelligence in different contexts using clear language appropriate to the audience and context;
3. Identify and explain the social, ethical, legal and environmental challenges associated with artificial intelligence systems, outlining plausible pathways for addressing them;
4. Evaluate and select artificial intelligence tools that are appropriate for a specific application and context, and identify situations where artificial intelligence use would be inappropriate;
5. Purposefully apply artificial intelligence concepts and tools in a variety of contexts, appreciating the complexity of its implications in each, and attempting to minimising its drawbacks.

Workload

Minimum total expected workload to achieve the learning outcomes for this unit is 144 hours per semester typically comprising a mixture of scheduled online and face to face learning activities and independent study. Independent study may include associated reading and preparation for scheduled teaching activities.

Student experience, not official rules. Nothing here changes what the Handbook says.