eLearnAfrica
Design a Feminist Chatbot
UAL Creative Computing Institute
  • Start Date: 13 Jul, 2020
  • 4 weeks
  • Study Content: Videos


Gain the skills to design and prototype a chatbot that doesn't reinforce harmful gender stereotypes.

Course Fee: Free
Certificate Cost: See Fees and Eligibility
Enrol Now

Course Description

This course is made available through the eLearnAfrica and FutureLearn partnership.

Discover the importance of feminism in generative ai


We live in an age of conversations powered by artificial intelligence. From customer service chatbots to bots that help you meditate, conversational interfaces are becoming part of our everyday lives.


Yet chatbots can easily reinforce harmful gender stereotypes or promote discriminatory behaviour if their designers aren’t careful.


On this four-week course, you’ll study feminism and its relationship to technology in order to help you build a feminist chatbot.


Explore gender bias and the problem of AI bias


By applying ideas from feminism to technology development, we can help people create products and services that promote equality and positive social change, rather than making social problems like inequality or prejudice worse.


You’ll explore the problem of bias and how it can be amplified in generative AI, such as chatbots. With this knowledge, you’ll start to unpack why AI bais matters and what kind of harm this can cause.


Learn how to apply feminist design principles


To help you explore how gender relates to technology, you’ll develop your understanding of feminism.


You’ll then gain an introduction to the feminist design tool to see a feminist chatbot design process in action. This practical exercise will help you understand how to design feminist chatbot conversations.


Gain prototyping and coding skills


Finally, you’ll learn basic coding skills to design and program a chatbot of your own. You’ll be guided step-by-step to learn how to prototype in code to create your chatbot prototype.


By the end of the course, you’ll know how to use feminist design tools to ensure you can design a chatbot that doesn’t reinforce bias.


This course is for anyone interested in the social implications of technology, specifically the ethical issues surrounding chatbot design.


People curious about coding would benefit from this course, as would academics in the feminist or tech communities.


You might also be interested in the other courses in the Essential Creative Technologies collection from UAL Creative Computing Institute, Lancaster University and the Institute of Coding.


We’ll be asking you to use some other online tools and platforms such as Glitch during the course.


Certificate cost may vary. You will be redirected to the host page for cost and payment options.

UAL Creative Computing Institute

This university is part of the partnership between eLearnAfrica and FutureLearn.

This institution is available on eLearnAfrica through partnership with FutureLearn.

You may be able to download course materials after enrolling in this course. If not, all of the necessary course materials provided by the course instructor will be available on the provider's course page.
COLLABORATION POLICY

By enrolling in a course on or through eLearnAfrica, you are joining a special worldwide community of learners. The aspiration of eLearnAfrica is to provide anyone with an internet connection access to courses from the best universities and institutions in the world and to provide our learners the best educational experience internet technology enables. You are a part of the community that will help eLearnAfrica achieve this goal. eLearnAfrica depends upon your motivation to learn the material and to do so with honesty and academic integrity. In order to participate in eLearnAfrica, you must agree to the Honor Code below and any additional terms specific to a class.

ELEARNAFRICA HONOR CODE PLEDGE

By enrolling in a course, program, or degree hosted on the eLearnAfrica App or Site, I agree that I will:

  • Complete all tests and assignments on my own, unless collaboration on an assignment is explicitly permitted.

  • Maintain only one user account and not let anyone else use my username and/or password.

  • Not engage in any activity that would dishonestly improve my results, or improve or hurt the results of others.

  • Not post answers to problems that are being used to assess student performance.

  • Abide by any and all requirements of the eLearnAfrica Participants as may regard the expectations of civil or academic behavior or of community standards.

VIOLATIONS

If you are found in violation of the Terms and Conditions or Honor Code, you may be subject to one or more of the following actions:

  • Receiving a zero or no credit for an assignment;

  • Having any certificate earned in the course withheld or revoked;

  • Being unenrolled from a course, learning program or degree program; or

  • Termination of your use of the App and/or Site.

  • Additional actions may be taken at the sole discretion of eLearnAfrica and eLearnAfrica course providers. 

No refunds will be issued in the case of any corrective action for such violations.

Honor code violations will be determined at the sole discretion of eLearnAfrica, the Partners, or Members. You will be notified if a determination has been made that you have violated this honor code and you will be informed of the corresponding action to be taken as a result of the violation.

CHANGING THE HONOR CODE

Please note that we review and may make changes to this Honor Code from time to time. Any changes to this Honor Code will be effective immediately upon posting on this page, with an updated effective date. By accessing the App and/or Site after any changes have been made, you signify your agreement on a prospective basis to the modified Honor Code and any changes contained therein. Be sure to return to this page periodically to ensure familiarity with the most current version of this Honor Code.

Effective Date: September 22, 2016