Engaging Students in AI Ethics

These questions are designed to spark curiosity and meaningful conversations about artificial intelligence and its philosophical implications with our students. This section provides accessible prompts for all learners, encouraging them to imagine AI’s capabilities and limitations, challenging them to explore the ethical, philosophical, and societal dimensions of AI, and fostering creativity and critical thinking along the way.

For Younger Learners

1. If you could create a robot to do one thing for you, what would it be? Would it ever make mistakes?

2. Do you think robots can ever have feelings like people do? Why or why not?

3. If a robot writes a story, who should get the credit—the robot or the person who built it?

4. What if a robot could tell jokes—would that make it funny or just smart?

5. If a robot learned everything about you, could it become your best friend? Why or why not?

6. Should robots have rules, like people do? What kinds of rules would you make for them?

7. Do you think robots can tell right from wrong? How would they know?

8. What’s something robots can do better than people? What’s something people will always be better at?

9. If a robot makes a mistake, who’s responsible—the robot or the person who made it?

10. Would you trust a robot to babysit your pet? Why or why not?

For Older Learners

1. Is artificial intelligence truly intelligent, or is it just mimicking human intelligence? How can we tell the difference?

2. Can machines have consciousness, or is consciousness uniquely human? What would consciousness in AI even mean?

3. If an AI makes an ethical decision that conflicts with human values, whose values should take precedence?

4. Should AI systems be granted rights, such as the right to exist or the right to autonomy? Why or why not?

5. Does AI challenge what it means to be human? How does its existence affect our understanding of creativity, reasoning, and emotion?

6. Can AI ever truly be “fair,” or will it always reflect human biases? How can we address these biases?

7. If an AI system becomes advanced enough to create its own goals, should we consider it a form of life?

8. How do philosophical theories, like utilitarianism or deontology, guide the ethical development of AI? Which approach seems most practical?

9. What are the potential dangers of anthropomorphizing AI—seeing it as “human-like”? How does this impact public perception of its abilities?