Ethics and Technology: AI, Surveillance, and Digital Responsibility

Description 

This seminar explores the complex moral challenges arising from contemporary technological developments. It provides a critical examination of how artificial intelligence, digital surveillance, and data-driven systems are reshaping human agency, privacy, and social relations. The seminar aims to equip participants with a theoretical and conceptual grounding in ethical frameworks while fostering the ability to apply these perspectives to real-world technological issues. Particular attention is given to questions of responsibility, accountability, and justice in the design and use of traditional and emerging technologies. A distinctive feature of the seminar is its interdisciplinary and discussion-based approach, integrating critical analysis with case studies from global and specific contexts. Participants will engage critically with emerging debates on algorithmic bias, digital rights, and governance. By the end of the seminar, participants will be able to articulate informed ethical positions and contribute meaningfully to ongoing discussions on the future of technology and society.

Steps

• Stage 1 : Foundations of Ethics in the Digital and Technological Age
• Stage 2 : Artificial Intelligence and Moral Agency
• Stage 3 : Surveillance, Power, and Privacy
• Stage 4 : Digital and Technological Responsibility and the Future of Humanity

Objectives

• Critically analyse major ethical theories and apply them to issues in artificial intelligence, surveillance, and digital technologies.
• Evaluate the social, political, and moral implications of technological and digital systems, including questions of privacy, power, and justice.
• Develop well-argued positions on digital responsibility, demonstrating the ability to engage with contemporary ethical debates in both global and African contexts.