HASS · Year 10 · The Globalising World · Term 4

Artificial Intelligence and Society

Students will explore the rapid advancements in Artificial Intelligence, its applications, and its ethical and societal implications.

• ACARA Content Descriptions
• AC9H10K09

About This Topic

Artificial Intelligence and Society guides Year 10 students through the fast-paced evolution of AI technologies and their wide-reaching impacts on global communities. Students examine applications in sectors like healthcare for faster diagnoses, autonomous vehicles for safer transport, and education for personalised learning. They balance these benefits against risks such as job losses in routine tasks, increased surveillance, and widening inequalities in access. This content aligns with AC9H10K09 by analysing how global innovations influence economic, social, and cultural systems.

Ethical dimensions form the core: students explore algorithmic bias that perpetuates discrimination, questions of accountability when AI errs, and the need for inclusive development. Key inquiries prompt them to predict transformations in industries and everyday life, cultivating skills in critical evaluation and forward-thinking.

Active learning thrives with this topic. Group debates on real case studies, role-plays of stakeholder perspectives, and collaborative timelines of AI futures turn abstract concerns into engaging, evidence-driven discussions that build empathy and analytical depth.

Key Questions

1. Analyze the potential benefits and risks of widespread AI adoption.
2. Explain the ethical considerations surrounding AI development and use.
3. Predict how AI might transform various industries and daily life in the future.

Learning Objectives

• Analyze the potential benefits and risks associated with the widespread adoption of artificial intelligence in various sectors.
• Evaluate the ethical considerations, including bias and accountability, surrounding the development and deployment of AI technologies.
• Predict and explain how AI might transform specific industries, such as healthcare, transportation, or manufacturing, and impact daily life.
• Compare and contrast different approaches to AI governance and regulation proposed by various countries or organizations.

Before You Start

Globalisation and Interconnectedness

Why: Students need to understand how technologies and ideas spread globally to contextualize the impact of AI.

Technological Change and Society

Why: A foundational understanding of how technological advancements influence social structures and economies is necessary.

Key Vocabulary

Artificial Intelligence (AI)	The simulation of human intelligence processes by machines, especially computer systems, including learning, problem-solving, and decision-making.
Algorithmic Bias	Systematic and repeatable errors in a computer system that create unfair outcomes, such as privileging one arbitrary group of users over others.
Machine Learning	A type of AI that allows computer systems to learn from and make decisions based on data, without being explicitly programmed.
Automation	The use of technology to perform tasks with minimal human intervention, often applied to repetitive or complex processes.
AI Ethics	A field of study concerned with the moral implications and societal impact of artificial intelligence, focusing on fairness, accountability, and transparency.

Watch Out for These Misconceptions

Common Misconception

AI thinks and understands like humans.

What to Teach Instead

AI processes patterns in data without consciousness or true comprehension. Role-plays and case dissections help students distinguish machine learning from human cognition, revealing limits through group comparisons of AI outputs.

Common Misconception

AI development is neutral and unbiased.

What to Teach Instead

AI inherits biases from training data, affecting fairness. Analysing real examples in debates exposes this, as students collaboratively identify flawed inputs and propose fixes, deepening ethical awareness.

Common Misconception

AI only poses risks, with few benefits.

What to Teach Instead

AI offers efficiencies alongside challenges. Balanced jigsaw activities let students weigh evidence from multiple sectors, correcting one-sided views through peer teaching and class discussions.

Active Learning Ideas

Jigsaw: AI Applications

Assign small groups one AI application (healthcare, transport, jobs). Groups research benefits and risks using provided articles, then teach peers in mixed jigsaw groups. End with whole-class synthesis chart.

50 min·Small Groups

Ethical Dilemma Role-Play: Stations

Set up stations with scenarios like biased hiring AI or self-driving car choices. Pairs role-play stakeholders, discuss decisions, rotate stations, and vote on resolutions. Debrief key ethics.

45 min·Pairs

Future Prediction Gallery Walk

Individuals sketch AI impacts on 2035 life in five areas (work, school, health). Post on walls for gallery walk; small groups add sticky-note predictions and questions. Discuss trends.

40 min·Individual

Debate Carousel: Benefits vs Risks

Form pro/con teams for statements like 'AI will create more jobs than it destroys.' Rotate positions midway, argue with evidence cards, then reflect in pairs on shifted views.

50 min·Small Groups

Real-World Connections

• Hospitals like Massachusetts General Hospital are using AI-powered diagnostic tools to analyze medical images, assisting radiologists in identifying potential diseases earlier and more accurately.
• Companies such as Waymo are developing and testing autonomous vehicles in cities like Phoenix, aiming to revolutionize personal transportation and logistics through AI-driven navigation and safety systems.
• The Australian Bureau of Statistics is exploring how AI can be used to improve data collection and analysis for national reporting, potentially leading to more responsive economic and social policies.

Assessment Ideas

Discussion Prompt

Pose the question: 'Should AI development be paused until ethical guidelines are universally agreed upon?' Facilitate a class debate where students represent different stakeholder groups (e.g., AI developers, ethicists, government regulators, affected workers) and argue their positions using evidence from case studies.

Quick Check

Present students with a short scenario describing an AI application (e.g., a hiring algorithm, a facial recognition system). Ask them to write down: 1. One potential benefit of this AI. 2. One potential ethical risk. 3. One question they would ask the developers.

Exit Ticket

Students complete an exit ticket with two prompts: 'Name one industry that will be significantly transformed by AI in the next 10 years and explain how.' and 'What is one question you still have about AI's impact on society?'

Frequently Asked Questions

What real-world examples illustrate AI's societal impacts?

Use cases like Australia's Robodebt scandal for algorithmic errors, or AI in medical imaging that speeds cancer detection. Students map these to benefits (efficiency) and risks (privacy breaches), drawing from news articles to connect global trends to local contexts in HASS.

How to address AI ethics in Year 10 HASS lessons?

Frame ethics around bias, accountability, and equity using AC9H10K09. Start with short videos of AI failures, followed by group ethical audits of tools like facial recognition. This builds argumentation skills while linking to globalising world unit themes.

How can active learning help students grasp AI implications?

Active methods like role-plays and debates make ethics personal: students embody developers, users, or regulators, debating real dilemmas. Gallery walks visualise futures, while jigsaws distribute expertise, ensuring all voices contribute to nuanced, evidence-based conclusions that stick.

What are key risks and benefits of AI adoption?

Benefits include productivity gains in agriculture via predictive analytics and personalised education. Risks cover job automation in retail, data privacy erosion, and bias amplifying inequalities. Guide students to evaluate these through structured pros/cons charts tied to Australian contexts like NDIS AI trials.