OAGR 2220 - The Politics of Artificial Intelligence: How Policymakers Can Govern AI

*** NEW COURSE ***

Artificial intelligence is transforming politics, economics, and society at an extraordinary pace. But what will its impact actually be? Will AI supercharge economic growth or displace hundreds of millions of workers? Will it strengthen democracies or hand new tools of control to dictators? Will it enrich human culture or undermine the institutions that produce and certify knowledge? And how should governments respond—by regulating AI as a normal technology, or by treating it as a potential source of catastrophic risk?

This course examines AI’s political impact from multiple angles. We begin with the technology itself and the economic transformations it is already driving. We then turn to the consequences for democracy and dictatorship, geopolitical competition, and the broader social fabric. The course concludes by exploring competing visions for regulation and governance. Throughout, students will draw on perspectives from political science, economics and philosophy to reflect on how public policy can respond to this enormous challenge.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

• Understand the basic technical foundations of artificial intelligence, including large language models, and distinguish between well-founded and misleading claims about AI's capabilities and risks.
• Analyze AI's economic impact through competing theoretical frameworks, evaluating arguments about productivity growth, labor displacement, and distributional consequences.
• Assess how AI reshapes the structural conditions for democratic and authoritarian governance, drawing on comparative politics and historical precedent.
• Critically evaluate competing approaches to AI regulation, from treating AI as a normal technology to treating it as a source of existential risk, and articulate the tradeoffs each entails.
• Develop and defend original policy positions on AI governance that integrate economic, political, and ethical considerations.

PROFESSIONAL SKILLS

• Policy analysis and regulatory comparison across jurisdictions, with particular attention to the EU, US, and Chinese approaches.
• Analytical reasoning to evaluate technical claims and translate them into political and economic implications.
• Structured argumentation under uncertainty — forming and defending positions on questions where the evidence is rapidly evolving and experts disagree.

N/A

There will be feedback on major assignments throughout the course as well as on request in office hours.

I will share a guide concerning the individual response papers and presentations with you in the first week of class.

• Class Participation 10%
• Individual presentation 20%
• Group Presentation 20%
• In-Class Exam 50%

• In Class Presence: 2 hours a week / 24 hours a semester
• Reading and Preparation for Class: 4 hours a week / 48 hours a semester
• Research and Preparation for Group Work: 2 hours a week / 24 hours a semester
• Research and Writing for Individual Assessments: 4 hours a week / 48 hours a semester