New course in Machine Psychology
In autumn 2024, a new course in Machine Psychology will start at the Department of Psychology. The course introduces machine psychology – theories and research about Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) from a psychological perspective.
The course provides a survey of how AGI differs from special-purpose (non-general) Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems, as well as addresses different approaches to AGI including brain-based approaches, large language models, and principle-based approaches.
A main part of the course introduces a particular principle-based AGI-system called Non-Axiomatic Reasoning System (NARS). This part of the course aims to address the differences between adaptive systems (like NARS) from non-adaptive systems (like GPT).
The course has a behavioral psychological orientation, and contrasts this approach to AGI with other psychological perspectives. The course also provides knowledge of principles within scientific methods that contribute to machine psychology research. The course provides tools to analyze and explain how machine psychology can be applied in relation to society and individuals, including ethical considerations.
The course is offered as full-time online studies in the last quarter of the semester (2024-12-05 – 2025-01-19).
The main language of instruction is English.
Tuition fee applies to citizens from outside EU, EEA or Switzerland. First instalment: 18 000 SEK. The complete course: 18 000 SEK.
A couple of questions to the course leader, Robert Johansson
Why take a course in machine psychology?
The course deals with a topic that has quickly become a hot topic – Artificial General Intelligence. It is an opportunity to understand the problems that researchers are trying to solve, and at the same time understand how psychology can provide a unique perspective that can be not only interesting but also crucial in the development of AGI systems.
Who is the course primarily aimed at, psychologists or programmers, geeks or the interested public?
Everyone! This is a course for anyone interested in thinking, consciousness, and human nature. AGI is characterized by the fact that it is human thinking and human learning that we want systems to be able to do – learning about AGI is thus a way to understand more about ourselves. It is also a course that provides the opportunity to critically examine some of the AI systems that we see a lot of in the media.
More information
Last updated: April 18, 2024
Source: Department of Psychology