In the coming years, the AI revolution may render many current policies obsolete—and make possible others that today seem infeasible. It may open new paths toward humanity’s deeper goals, even as it poses unprecedented challenges to governance, security, and social trust. No one knows exactly what will happen. But we can no longer afford to treat the opportunities and the risks as someone else’s homework.
This course is a bold but humble step in taking the AI revolution seriously from a policy perspective.
Our task is threefold. First, we honor the classics. The analytic craft of public policy—framing objectives, diagnosing systems, assessing what works, and implementing change—remains indispensable. You will practice these tools, with the help of AI.
Second, we reframe the goals. What could “progress” mean if wealth, health, knowledge, and access become far more abundant? Some policies may shift from easing scarcity to nurturing purpose. Some policies that have been infeasible in the past may become necessary in the future—such as a universal basic income.
Third, we address the risks. We must learn to design and govern AI itself—its incentives, safeguards, and social effects. It may catalyze upheavals in labor markets and public services. It could exacerbate international conflict and enable new forms of crime. And while we’re being dramatic, it could usher in a kind of AI-enhanced 1984.
Throughout, AI will be both your topic and your tool. You will use Generative AI (GenAI) as your tutor, co-creator, and partner, and you will learn to interrogate its blind spots, biases, and potential for misuse.
While we deal with some megatrends and grand policy issues, you will have ample opportunities to tune the course to your particular policy area of interest. The midterm and final exams will be customized to each student.
PP338 is designed for people ready to face an uncertain future and eager to be in the rooms—governments, firms, NGOs, and multilaterals—where the next generation of policies is imagined and put to work.