COURSE

New: ‘Sustainable AI in Business’ course by Agoria - kopie

08.03.2021

What is the societal impact of artificial intelligence (AI)? This question is answered during the free online course of Agoria on the human, legal, and ethical aspects that need to be taken into account when implementing artificial intelligence (AI) in a company. The course was launched on March the 3rd by Agoria, with the help of more than 40 partners. What can you learn during the course? We give a brief overview.

Why this course?

The implementation of AI in a business context does not only ask for technical expertise, but also insight in the ethical, legal and societal aspects of AI technology. This course focuses specifically on the non-technical side of AI for professionals in the first place, but also a broader public can follow the course as no prior knowledge of AI or IT is required.

The course is an initiative of Agoria, developed for and by companies, with support of the European Social Fund (ESF) and Vlaams Agentschap Innoveren & Ondernemen (VLAIO). More than 40 partner organisations helped with the development of the course. The Knowledge Centre Data & Society contributed to the chapter on Customer Sales.

  • Duration: 1h30min

  • Price: free

  • Languages: Dutch, French and English

What will you learn in this course?

In this course you take on the role of a CEO of a company that needs to convince the board members of the benefits of implementing an AI system. During the course you will meet departmental heads who will address these concerns, so you can report back to the board members about the opportunities of AI.

The course is divided into five chapters: HR manager, legal manager, chief innovation officer, sustainability manager and lastly, customer sales manager. By going through the five chapters you learn more about the implementation of AI in a sustainable way. In each chapter, short videos of companies or organisations that talk about their journey of implementing sustainable AI are shown. Each chapter closes with a short self-assessment based on what you’ve seen.

Image: the different chapters of the course.

Course structure:

  • The HR manager chapter describes the different (internal and external) profiles that need to be involved in an AI project. It also elaborates on data awareness as part of a company’s culture.

  • The Legal manager chapter focuses on the translation of ethical principles in legal documents, on the importance of contracts, and on how you can convince internal stakeholders of the benefits of AI.

  • The Chief innovation officer specifies what AI can and cannot do, what you can do to ensure a successful implementation of an AI system, and how you can maintain an AI project.

  • The Sustainability manager chapter explains more about the Sustainable Development Goals, the benefits of AI for societal challenges and how AI can be developed in a sustainable way.

  • The Sales manager chapter elaborates on intellectual property, explainability, and on digital ethics. In this chapter, the Knowledge Centre Data & Society focuses on the importance of the hidden costs of an AI system (e.g. training for employees) when planning the budget of the AI project. We present our tool the AI Blindspots as a means to uncover these hidden costs. Want to know more about our AI Blindspots card set? Click here.

At the end of the course, an overview of tools and available experts are shown to help you get started with the implementation of sustainable AI.

In short, if you want practical information and tools to get started with sustainable AI in your company, and you want an accessible, fun and hands-on training, this online course is something for you!

More information

You can find more information about the course via the website of Agoria. Are you already convinced of the course and you want to start immediately? Click here.