Data Science: An Artificial Ecosystem

This course aims to introduce students to the world of data science and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies via articles published in the Harvard Data Science Review, a global forum disseminating everything data science and data science for everyone. The course emphasizes the evolutionary nature of the data science enterprise as an artificial ecosystem, where the term artificial shares a similar connotation as it does in the phrase artificial intelligence. However, unlike the common algorithmic or robotic depictions of AI, this course espouses a panoramic view of data science and AI technologies, from philosophical conceptualizations to the policy implications of data science and AI technologies. Topics such as generative AI and human-machine interaction are explored in depth to demonstrate the necessity of the panoramic approach. Questions such as what is intelligence or how AI might impact humans as emotional beings require philosophical contemplation rather than solely technical know-how. Similarly, understanding the full impact of generative AI demands an interdisciplinary approach that blends careful sociological, economical, computational, and statistical thinking. Throughout the course, students explore the myriad applications of data science and AI technologies by engaging with a broad range of articles from leading scholars and practitioners with perspectives from computer science, economics, statistics, philosophy, and sociology. Students have ample opportunities to discuss these articles with the authors themselves, as well as to leverage their own interests and expertise in open-ended assignments that allow them to investigate dimensions of data science most relevant to their backgrounds, curiosities, or professional goals.