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An introduction to artificial intelligence

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Artificial Intelligence (AI) represents great opportunity, but also significant disruption for modern societies and cultures. This free online short course investigates the historical, ethical and social issues surrounding this technology. It is aimed at people interested in understanding where this technology has come from, the kinds of opportunities it brings to modern and future societies, but also the risks it presents, and what steps we might take to avoid such risks.

This course has been developed from LG003 - An introduction to artificial intelligences. The Open University has launched a dedicated learning centre called The Open Centre for Languages and Cultures. OpenLearn is supporting this project and is providing extracted units of all courses on The Open Centre in our dedicated Language and cultures hub.

Course learning outcomes

After studying this course, you should be able to:

describe the historical, social, political and economic issues in AI
understand the benefits and risks of AI technology
express some ideas about the ethical challenges with building AI technology
formulate possible ways of responding to the risks and opportunities which AI represents.

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First Published: 25/05/2022

Updated: 04/03/2026

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Course content

- Introduction
- Current section:
  Introduction
  Artificial Intelligence (AI) is part of a swathe of recent technologies that have the potential to significantly disrupt, both for good and ill, societies and cultures in ways that are sure to be profound but are, as yet, little understood. Voices in support of the benefits of such technology point to its potential as a solution to serious challenges humans face, from tackling climate emergencies to supporting sustainable population increases across the world, but also as a means to ...
- Open Centre for Languages and Cultures
- Acknowledgements
- Week1Week 1: Surrounded by AI
- Current section:
  Introduction
  In this first week you will get an overview of the historical, social and cultural background of Artificial Intelligence (AI). What you will find is that AI is not so much a single, neatly defined discipline, but rather, it is an assemblage of themes, ideas, and technologies.While AI is most widely known as an area of scientific and engineering endeavour, it is a relative newcomer to the scene, having emerged from early work by computer scientists around the middle of last century. And yet, ...
- 1 Looking backwards
- 2 Looking around us
  - 2.1 Risks and benefits
- 3 Looking forwards
- 4 This week’s quiz
- Summary of Week 1
- Acknowledgements
- References
- Week 1 quiz
- Week2Week 2: Assuming AI is possible, what happens next?
- Current section:
  Introduction
  The HAL 9000 from Stanley Kubrick’s film 2001: A Space Odyssey is perhaps an archetype of the super-intelligent AI that becomes a threat to the humans that depend on it. Yet, watching a film like this, one could nevertheless breathe a sigh of relief knowing that such a nightmare scenario is still thankfully a long way off, if even possible at all.However, there are increasing calls within government, industry and academia for greater caution in the adoption of AI technology. These calls are ...
- 1 If AI is possible, how should we prepare for it?
- 2 Diversity, fairness, and equitability in AI
  - 2.1 The role of technology companies
  - 2.2 The impact of AI technology on society
- 3 The sustainability of AI
  - 3.1 AI and sustainability
- 4 Using AI for social good
- 5 This week’s quiz
- Summary
- Next steps
- Acknowledgements
- References
- Glossary
- Week 2 quiz

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Course reviews

Abeera Nadeem 24 September 2026 3:57PM

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5 Stars – Excellent, Accessible, and Insightful Course!
"I recently completed An Introduction to Artificial Intelligence by The Open University, and it exceeded my expectations. The course provides a fantastic balance between the foundational concepts of AI and its real-world societal and ethical impacts. Complex ideas are broken down clearly, making it easy to follow even without a technical background. The study materials, quizzes, and self-paced structure made learning engaging and flexible. Highly recommended for anyone looking to build a strong understanding of AI!"

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Sayyida Fatimah 7 September 2026 11:22AM

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This is really exciting because it broadens our understanding and offers many new perspectives from experts both from OU itself and from UC Berkeley.

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An introduction to artificial intelligence

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This course is part of the OpenLearn AI Hub: a collaboration between The Open University and Microsoft. Follow the link to learn more.