Master in Design for Responsible Artificial Intelligence

The Master in Design for Responsible Artificial Intelligence is a part-time and low-residency programme for professionals interested in developing skills in creative research, context analysis, critical thinking and storytelling, and strategic decision-making while investigating the multiple ways in which artificial intelligence systems are impacting our daily lives and engaging with complex questions emerging from wider issue areas related to digital technologies in sustainability, ai ethics, media and social justice from intersectional and transdisciplinary perspectives.

The Master in Responsible AI is created for professionals with backgrounds in digital service design, strategic design and communications, interaction design, cultural management, political science, social innovation, journalism, trend research, data science or other technical disciplines as data or computer science related to artificial intelligence systems, who are working in different areas of the digital economy, leading or participating in digital transformation projects across public institutions and private sector organisations.

We will create the conditions for you to become a specialist in designing for responsible artificial intelligence, an emerging field that aims to understand artificial intelligence as socio-technical systems to study the different impacts they have in society and the Planet, investigating and designing theories, frameworks, methods and other tools for an ethical, legal, and sustainable development, deployment, governance and usage of artificial intelligence systems for a more responsible artificial intelligence.

There is a growing need in the public and private sectors, particularly in the US and Europe, for designers and other creative professionals with technical and non-technical backgrounds able to apply a critical design attitude and a transversal set of capabilities and mindsets to collectively learn how to transform principles (ways of thinking) such as transparency, justice and fairness, non-maleficence, responsibility and privacy into action (ways of doing) to assess and mitigate risks, increase digital media literacy in the wider public and learn the best ways humanity can use these powerful technologies to address the socio-ecological implications of the environmental emergency and make possible the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals for 2030.

This master in responsible AI is designed as a creative research collaboratory with a strong focus on collaborative and transdisciplinary learning offering participants a unique context to develop skills in investigating and analysing complex topics while specialising on the design and implementation of strategies, narratives, decision-making techniques and methodologies for responsible artificial intelligence systems to engage with a broad range of stakeholders. All of this taking into account the ethical dilemmas derived from this field and addressing ethical ai as a basic and inseparable approach of this discipline.

The Master in Design for Responsible Artificial Intelligence is organised into three terms offered in a low-residency mode which runs for 40 weeks over 10 months. You will be expected to commit 10-12 hours per week to study, which includes teaching time and independent study.  

The program is delivered via a blended part-time/remote learning journey, online and through 3 in-person sessions in Barcelona that will take place in September (Kick-off week), February-March (10 weeks) and June (Final project week). 

Term I: September - December

In this term, students, alongside faculty and other guest collaborators, will interact to organise as a creative research collective around a self-assigned theme related to the Master’s core topics that will run across the three terms of the program, as a way to practice and reflect on the power of collective intelligence.  

Through group discussions, creative foresight experiments, collective decision-making and reflection exercises, students will develop rigorous methods of collecting and analysing information and alternative ways of understanding, situating, and exchanging knowledge in collaboration with their peers. 

With guidance from specialists and collaborators, students will design and run a low-tech digital publication as an experimental media platform to share the outputs of their collective research and learning journeys.  

• Kick-off week: Creative research collaboratory + Critical Design/Media lab setup (in-person sessions. September @ Barcelona) 
• Module 1: Decoding artificial intelligence systems (weekly remote sessions) 
• Module 2: Artificial intelligence systems Impact on Society and the Planet (weekly remote sessions) 

Term II: January - March

Through lectures, case studies, debates and workshops, during this term students will engage in a critical study, analysis and discussion of the foundations of responsible artificial intelligence, the evolution of its legal dimension and different principles and guidelines for artificial intelligence ethics in public and private sector, with a strong focus on the requirements for trustworthy artificial intelligence according to the High Level Expert Group on artificial intelligence set by the European Commission. 

Students will explore and analyze the practical dimension of responsible artificial intelligence: how the guidelines and principles are being implemented, discussing and testing different impact assessment methods, technical and non-technical approaches, and tools to make artificial intelligence explainable to the general public. 

• Module 3: Responsible artificial intelligence/ Governance, principles and requirements (weekly remote sessions) 
• Module 4: Responsible artificial intelligence/ From principles to implementation (in-person design sprints and workshops. 10 weeks between Feb-March @ Barcelona) 
• Critical Design/Media Lab + Final project  (weekly remote tutoring sessions) 

Term III: April - June

Through group discussions, editorial challenges, tutorials and workshops, students will apply and develop their learnings from other modules, while practising critical design and sharing their reflections with a wider audience in different formats, creating the conditions for students to exchange and engage with experts across different fields and regions, as part of their learning experience. 

The final weeks of this ms in artificial intelligence will include a final round of internal presentations to provide final comments on the projects, as well as final public external presentations both on location and online. The last week will also include feedback, and collective reflection on the whole learning experience. 

• Critical Design/Media Lab + Final project development (weekly remote tutoring sessions) 
• Final project presentations (in-person event. June @ Barcelona)