Responsible Engineering in the Age of AI: The Value of Responsible AI Education from Engineering Students' Perspectives

Abstract

Being a critical enabler of research and development, data-driven systems like Artificial Intelligence (AI) are increasingly relevant to engineers. Due to their generalizability and wide-ranging functionality, they are closely interwoven with social developments. With it comes the responsibility for instilling the right values and the need to gain knowledge of AI and its implications for society. A master’s seminar at RWTH Aachen University trained engineering students on topics in the context of Responsible AI in engineering. To complement perspectives from industry and accreditation boards, we investigated students’ reflection papers on the course to determine the relevance that engineering students give to their education in Responsible AI. We found that prior to the seminar, students lacked knowledge about AI applications in engineering and assumed that technology (including AI) was neutral and unbiased. Yet after the seminar, students reported having corrected these assumptions. They expressed their positive beliefs about the importance of learning about Responsible AI in engineering, insisting that future engineers should consider the sociotechnical context of their work. This paper presents the results of the reflection paper analysis to address why engineering students see learning about Responsible AI, including its sociotechnical context, as relevant for their future careers.