Module Check: Power and Access
You have covered the full arc of this module: who builds AI and why it costs so much, the digital divide and how it shapes who can access AI, how AI access and development differ around the world, who benefits and who can be left behind, how AI is — and should be — governed, AI's role in high-stakes societal decisions, and the concrete approaches being used to make access fairer. This lesson is your chance to consolidate, test, and synthesize.
Key Terms Review
Flashcards — click each card to reveal the answer
Module Quiz
A tech company trains a large AI model using thousands of specialized chips running for three months, consuming enormous amounts of electricity. This scenario most directly illustrates which concept from this module?
A student in a rural area has a smartphone with a limited data plan, while a classmate in the city has fiber-optic home internet. Which level of the digital divide most precisely describes the rural student's situation?
China's government funds AI development for facial recognition and smart city systems. The EU bans most public facial recognition AI. What does this difference most clearly show?
A criminal justice algorithm is found to produce false positives — predicting reoffending when a person would not reoffend — significantly more often for one demographic group than another. Which principle most directly argues that individuals affected by this algorithm have a right to challenge it?
An initiative trains AI language models specifically for ten African languages that have no existing high-quality AI support. This most directly addresses which equity problem?
A company voluntarily publishes guidelines for responsible AI use, but no law requires them to follow the guidelines, and there is no penalty for violating them. This is an example of which governance concept?
Synthesis Activity
The Module in One Page
- Part 1 — Connect the concepts.
- Draw a concept map or write a structured paragraph that connects at least five of the following terms in a way that tells a coherent story: digital divide, AI governance, training data cost, concentration of AI development, proxy variable, open-source AI, right to explanation, participatory design, brain drain, risk-based regulation.
- Your connections should show causes, effects, and relationships — not just list the terms.
- Part 2 — The most important lesson.
- In your view, what is the single most important insight from this module? Write two to three sentences explaining what it is and why it matters more to you than the other ideas you studied.
- Part 3 — One action.
- Identify one concrete thing you could personally do — as a student, community member, future voter, or future professional — that reflects something you learned in this module. Be specific: what would you do, when, and what effect do you hope it would have?
- Part 4 — One open question.
- Write one question that this module raised for you that you do not yet have a satisfying answer to. Good open questions are harder than good answers — they show you understand the complexity of the issue.