Knud Berthelsen
SLAM 3111 AI and Society at Tulane, paper collage of a city at dusk where AI connects classrooms, offices, hospitals and streets

SLAM 3111 · Tulane University

AI and Society

How widely available AI is changing the way we live and work, and how to create value in a world shaped by it.

  • 3 credits
  • AI Literacy Minor
  • No prerequisites

The course

AI is already changing how we learn, work, govern and create. What happens next is still being decided.

SLAM 3111 examines how widely available AI has changed, and might further change, how people live and work. Students look at its effect on education, work, science, politics and the environment, then on specific industries, and finally on individual people. Through lectures, student-led research, discussion and debate, they assess the economic, cultural and strategic implications of widespread AI.

By the end, students have a toolkit of strategies for navigating, and leading in, a world shaped by AI.

3

credits

A full Tulane course

4

questions

Asked of every topic

1

industry per team

Owned and taught to the class

2

projects

One with a team, one individual

How students think

Four questions, every topic

Whether the subject is a classroom, a hospital or a single person's career, the course asks the same four questions.

The four questions of AI and Society, paper collage of four petals showing a path ahead, a balance scale, a connected city and a hand holding something of value
  1. 01

    Impact

    What is the impact of AI on this topic?

  2. 02

    Future

    What might the future impact be?

  3. 03

    Implications

    What are the implications of this change?

  4. 04

    Value

    Given these implications, how can individuals and organizations create value?

What it counts for

Part of two minors

SLAM minor

A SLAM course

Part of the Strategy, Leadership & Analytics Minor

AI Literacy Minor

Included in the minor

One of the courses in Tulane’s AI Literacy Minor

Students should confirm with their advisor how the course fits their degree plan.

How the semester unfolds

From what AI can do to what it means for one person

The four parts of the course, paper collage of a path from a student exploring AI, past a city and people in discussion, through industry panels, to one person walking toward the sunset
  1. Part 1

    Foundations

    The general impact of AI, what current AI can do, the most important tools, and strategies for creating value. The first two weeks.

  2. Part 2

    AI and society

    Education, work, science and technology, politics and government, and the environment, one topic at a time.

  3. Part 3

    Industries

    Student teams lead the class through their industries in two rounds: first the past and present, then the future.

  4. Part 4

    The individual

    Individual presentations, then a look back at the semester and ahead at what comes next.

AI and society

Five parts of society, examined one at a time

Paper collage of a student and mentor at an open book whose pages rise into glowing stairs

Education & learning

How will people learn when every student has an AI tutor?

Paper collage of a tradesman, an office worker and a nurse building with blocks beneath a staircase of workplaces

Work & workers

Which jobs change, which disappear, and which appear?

Paper collage of a researcher at a microscope and a doctor with a patient, linked by threads of light

Science, technology & health

What happens when AI speeds up discovery?

Paper collage of a ballot going into a box in front of a capitol, between two speaking silhouettes

Politics & government

How does AI change elections, debate and government?

Paper collage of a glowing data center beside a river and a home under a large oak

Our environment & the environment

What does AI do to our surroundings, and to the planet?

Team project in AI and Society, paper collage of a student team presenting the film industry to classmates, with a storyboard, cameras and film reels

Team project

Own an industry

  • Become the expertsEach team takes ownership of one industry and researches it deeply enough to represent it in class activities all semester.
  • Pick from a real listTeams choose from about twenty industries, from energy, banking and insurance to fitness, graphic design, and space and satellites.
  • Teach it twiceThe team leads two class sessions: the first on the industry’s past and present, the second on its future.
  • Peer feedbackTeam members give each other confidential feedback at the middle and end of the term.

Individual project

One person, one decision

Each student researches how AI affects one individual, what that means for them, and the strategic decisions they face, using the same four questions.

  • Choose the personYourself, someone you know (with an interview and your own analysis, including where you disagree), or a fictional persona.
  • Pitch itA short recorded pitch, looking into the camera with no slides, on who you chose and what you want to find out.
  • Present itA short live presentation in class, without a script, followed by questions.

Recent topics have included AI in special education, fraud detection in banking, travel agency work, and a student’s own future in counseling psychology.

Individual project in AI and Society, paper collage of a student interviewing a tailor in his workshop, with her pitch recorded on a phone
Class discussion in AI and Society, paper collage of five students debating around a table with their laptops closed

How class works

Screens down, ideas up

  • Flipped classroomStudents read and watch before class, and class time goes to discussion, debate and hands-on exercises.
  • Screen down by defaultLaptops stay closed unless “screen up” is announced, and phones are not used.
  • Frequent, low-stakes assignmentsShort in-class assignments reinforce each session, so no single assignment decides the grade.
  • No final examGrades come from the team project, the individual project, in-class assignments, participation and peer assessment.
  • What to bringA laptop, pen and paper. A paid AI subscription and The Economist are recommended, not required.

Recent class activities have included an environmental debate with assigned roles, guessing which ads were made by AI, using AI to read a polarized comment thread in minutes, and framing the same student survey data for and against AI.

AI and sources

Use AI. Cite real sources.

The use of AI tools is expected and encouraged, as is discussing which tools were used, how, and how well they performed. Every claim needs credible data and an inline reference to its source, and an AI tool alone is not a credible source.

When it’s offered

SLAM 3111 runs in person during the regular semester. Current sections and times are listed on the Teaching page.

Paper collage of four students walking along a path toward a city connected by threads of light

The instructor

Knud E. Berthelsen

Knud Berthelsen is a Professor of Practice at Tulane University and Senior Advisor for AI Literacy at the Connolly Alexander Institute for Data Science. He also teaches DATA 2150 Artificial Intelligence Tools and SLAM 2031 Applied Data Analysis, and consults for and trains organizations on how AI works and how to work with it. Before focusing on AI, he spent a decade teaching international strategy and new venture management at Tulane's Freeman School of Business.

More in his CV and on the Teaching page. Questions about the course? Contact Professor Berthelsen.