Rice Global Paris Summer Program | 2027 Course Listing
PHIL 108 AI Ethics
SESSION 2 | Wednesday, June 9 – Tuesday, June 29, 2027
Instructors:
Rodrigo Ferreira and Robert Howell
Paris Summer Session 2
Wed. June 9 – Tues. June 29
| Move-in June 8 | Move-out June 30
(Summer 2027)
Course image: Daft Punk in front of the Eiffel Tower, photographed by Perou for NME magazine in 2001.
Course Description
The latest advances in artificial intelligence have recently led technology developers, scholars, and policymakers to a series of critical questions: what distinguishes “human” from “artificial” intelligence? How is AI reshaping human creativity, cognition, and emotions? How is AI transforming work and economic-political relations around the world?
This course is designed for students who want to better understand the historical, cultural, and political forces that today shape AI usage and development. In this course, we will trace the influence of 20th-century Paris-based scholars, activists, and artists - such as Benjamin, Debord, Baudrillard, Foucault, Sartre, and Merleau-Ponty - on contemporary discourse on AI ethics and policy and explore the many sites - including coffee shops, shopping arcades, museums, music halls, and public spaces - that today carry on their legacy.
By the end of this course, students will be able to explain in detail:
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The historical legacy of technology development during WWII and its impact on French intellectual thought on tech ethics and policy
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The epistemological, ontological, and ethical assumptions that have historically shaped the development of “artificial” intelligence
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The social, economic, and political impacts of AI development, deployment, and use, specially in relation to existing global socio-economic inequalities
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Key questions raised by contemporary contemporary on human-nonhuman agency, moral responsibility, and AI policy and governance
Credit Hours
This course is 3 Rice credit hours.
Does this course have prerequisites?
No
Does this course fulfill a Distribution Requirement?
Although PHIL 108 does not currently fulfill a Distribution Requirement, it is a requirement for the AI major and counts as an elective in the Philosophy major.
Application Deadline
Priority Deadline: December 9, 2026
Final Application Deadline: February 15, 2027
For details on these two deadlines, please navigate to the How to Apply section of the Program Information & FAQs page.
Questions?
For questions regarding the course content, please contact the course instructor (see below).
For questions regarding the program (budget, application process, financial aid, global awards), first read through the Rice Global Paris Summer Program Information and FAQs page on our website. If you cannot find the answer to your question, email us at globalowls@rice.edu.
Rodrigo Ferreira, Department of Computer Science
Rodrigo Ferreira is an Associate Teaching Professor in the Department of Computer Science and the Associate Dean for Technology and Responsibility in the George R. Brown School of Engineering and Computing at Rice University. In this dual role, Rodrigo is responsible for the Department of Computer Science’s ethics in computer science and AI curricula and leads the school of Engineering and Computing’s goals for promoting responsible technology through teaching, research, and strategic partnerships.
Rodrigo’s research on technology and ethics has been published in various academic venues, including ACM and IEEE publications, iScience, Teaching Ethics, and Learning, Media, and Technology. His opinions have been featured in national and local media channels, including The Houston Chronicle, Telemundo, and NPR, and his perspectives on AI have been presented in front of US and international AI policy committees.
Robert Howell, Department of Philosophy
Robert Howell is the Yasser El-Sayed Professor in the Philosophy Department at Rice. His research spans a range of fields, with a primary focus on consciousness, subjectivity, and the metaphysics of mind. His books include Self-Knowledge and the Elusive Subject (Oxford University Press, 2023), which explores self-awareness and the nature of the subject, and Consciousness and the Limits of Objectivity (Oxford University Press, 2013), which develops a form of subjective physicalism.
Robert's current research examines the nature of the self and the role of philosophy in understanding the ethical and intellectual implications of emerging technologies, particularly artificial intelligence. His work explores how technologies can augment or undermine human intellectual and moral virtues.