Undergraduate Course: AI, Digital Technology and Politics (PLIT10192)
Course Outline
| School | School of Social and Political Science |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course examines how AI, data and technology is and can be used within the political sphere, in policy, communication and more widely in political messaging. It considers the ethic aspects of the use of these tools. It offers an overview of the impact of the revolution in AI and data analytics and the likely impact emerging technologies will have. |
| Course description |
In this course we will explore the ways in which policy making has become more technologically functional and we will investigate the likely direction of innovation and future development. The processes of data capture, storage, linking and analysis in the era of AI will be investigated. We will consider how emerging technologies in artificial intelligence; language processing and data analysis can be used and the opportunities and limitations presented by these developments
We will investigate how social media has been used as a communication tool in both political messaging and campaigning and will discuss the possible impact this has had. We will also look at how political messaging is used by actors such activists and foreign governments and ask how this might impact on policy developments. We will identify areas where there has been technological transformation of policy and access to government services. We will look at case studies on how technology is, and will be, used in the delivery of public services. We will address the issue of public trust in the use of technology and access to our personal data. To this ends we will evaluate and debate data ethics and how this is applicable to policymakers and to those studying the policy process.
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Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | Visiting students should have at least 4 Politics/International Relations courses at grade B or above (or be predicted to obtain this). We will only consider University/College level courses. |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Demonstrate a critical understanding of the main areas of study linked to the use of technology in government
- Engage critically with the work of political and data science scholars, and evaluate their arguments
- Evaluate data and digital methodologies as to their applicability and use in answering politically focused questions
- Demonstrate their ability to present - in written and verbal form - coherent, balanced arguments surrounding the ethics and use of data
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Reading List
Hood, C. C., and Margetts, H. Z. (2007) The Tools of Government in the Digital Age. Basingstoke: Macmillan International Higher Education.
Haber, J., et al. (2025) Using AI in Academic Writing and Research. Cham: Springer.
Llewellyn, C. and Vaccari, C. (2025) 'Media and Social Media', in UK Politics. 1st edn. London: SAGE Publications.
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Critical thinking
Curiosity
Data and digital literacy
Communication |
| Keywords | AI,artificial intelligence,ethics,privacy,data,governments,policy,technology,communication |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Mrs Clare Llewellyn
Tel:
Email: cllewell@exseed.ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | |
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