The University of Cambridge is launching the UK’s first Master’s degree in the responsible use of artificial intelligence (AI).

The programme will be led by the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence (CFI), an interdisciplinary research centre based at the University of Cambridge.

CFI is partnering with the University of Cambridge’s Institute for Continuing Education (ICE), which provides flexible and accessible higher education courses for adults, to deliver the 2-year part-time Master’s degree.

The hybrid programme, who’s first cohort will start in October 2021, will consist of online classes, and intensive week-long residentials at a University of Cambridge college. The programme has been designed in such a flexible format to maximise the opportunities for working professionals to join the course.

The curriculum spans a wide range of academic areas including philosophy, machine learning, policy, race theory, design, computer science, engineering, and law. Run by a specialist research centre, the course will include the latest subject research taught by world-leading experts.

Executive Director of CFI, Dr Stephen Cave, said in a press release about the new programme: “Everyone is familiar with the idea of AI rising up against us. It’s been a staple of many celebrated films like Terminator in the 1980s, 2001: A Space Odyssey in the 1960s, and Westworld in the 1970s, and more recently in the popular TV adaptation.”

“But there are lots of risks posed by AI that are much more immediate than a robot revolt. There have been several examples which have featured prominently in the news, showing how it can be used in ways that exacerbate bias and injustice.”

“It’s crucial that future leaders are trained to manage these risks so we can make the most of this amazing technology. This pioneering new course aims to do just that.”

It is hoped that the development of AI will benefit the lives of billions; even during the Covid-19 pandemic, AI was shown to have proven benefits, being used in the development of vaccines, early diagnosis and contact tracing.

However, in the past it has also been shown to embed the prejudices of society as when an algorithm for ranking job applicants automatically downgraded women. It can also be used for intrusive surveillance using facial recognition algorithms that decide who is a ‘potential criminal’.

Dr Cave says the new degree will address some of these concerns. “People are using AI in different ways across every industry, and they are asking themselves, ‘How can we do this in a way that broadly benefits society?’

“We have brought together cutting-edge knowledge on the responsible and beneficial use of AI, and want to impart that to the developers, policymakers, businesspeople and others who are making decisions right now about how to use these technologies.”

Meanwhile Dr James Gazzard, director of ICE, said: “The Institute of Continuing Education is delighted to be a partner in this distinctive Master’s course. Our role is to provide adult students with access to cutting edge knowledge and skills.”

“As we all consider a post COVID-19 future, we know that the Fourth Industrial Revolution will see the acceleration of the opportunities and threats presented by AI and this course is well placed to support adults to re-skill and up-skill in this important emerging field.”