Overview

This Unit examines Artificial Intelligence (AI), its history, operational principles, and application, including its relationship to the concepts of self, free will and personhood. It also considers key historical and philosophical concepts of mind, as well as teaching practical skills in reasoning and argument development.

Requisites

Prerequisites
PHI30011 Thinking and Intelligence: Critical, Creative, Artificial

requisite for PHI30011

50 credit points

Teaching periods
Location
Start and end dates
Last self-enrolment date
Census date
Last withdraw without fail date
Results released date
Semester 1
Location
Hawthorn
Start and end dates
03-March-2025
01-June-2025
Last self-enrolment date
16-March-2025
Census date
31-March-2025
Last withdraw without fail date
24-April-2025
Results released date
08-July-2025

Learning outcomes

Students who successfully complete this unit will be able to:

  • Analyse the components of persuasive arguments to construct new logical and cogent arguments that contain strong premises and conclusions.
  • Examine key historical and philosophical concepts of mind and their impact on ideas about the mind-body relationship, the self, consciousness, and free will.
  • Identify key concepts in the development and application of artificial intelligence (AI) to design methods for the effective use of AI tools.
  • Evaluate the application of creative approaches and their constraints to explore philosophical questions.

Teaching methods

Hawthorn

Type Hours per week Number of weeks Total (number of hours)
Live Online
Lecture		 1.00  12 weeks  12
On Campus
Class		 2.00  12 weeks  24
Specified Learning Activities
Various		 5.00  12 weeks  60
Unspecified Learning Activities
Independent Learning		 4.50  12 weeks  54
TOTAL     150

Assessment

Type Task Weighting ULO's
Major Essay Individual  40%  1,4
Tutorial Presentation Individual  30%  1,2,3
Online Quizzes Individual  30%  1,2,3,4 

Content

  • Critical and creative thinking in human minds
  • The development, application and ethics of artificial minds (or Artificial Intelligence).
  • The principles and techniques involved in identifying, building, and evaluating arguments.
  • Creativity in science and technology, and the value of constraints in creativity.
  • Philosophical concepts and questions related to human and artificial intelligence.

Study resources

Reading materials

A list of reading materials and/or required textbooks will be available in the Unit Outline on Canvas.