HUMAN · Masterclass

Human Needs, Harm, and Context

Start with the human situation, not the availability of a model.

Frame needs, stakeholders, power, harm, benefit, setting, and alternatives before selecting AI behavior.

You will build

A context-of-use model and harm/benefit register for one consequential AI interaction.

Your proof artifact

Stakeholder map, field evidence, non-AI alternative, risk register, and design requirements.

Required Alternate Clouds deployment

AI Context-of-Use and Non-AI Alternative Mapper

Class requirement: create or sign in to your Alternate Clouds account, deploy the AI Context-of-Use and Non-AI Alternative Mapper template, and submit its live URL before the class is marked complete.

Create your Alternate Clouds account ↗

Use only work you own or are authorized to use.

Every submission needs a source-and-license manifest covering text, code, images, audio, video, fonts, datasets, models, weights, and AI reference inputs. Attribution alone is not permission. Questionable material stays private or is replaced before deployment or showcase.

Ask about rights clearance

01Is AI the intervention?

Distinguish a human need from a model-shaped solution and compare simpler alternatives.

Applied exercise

Write the case for AI and the case against it.

02Stakeholders and power

Map direct users, affected non-users, operators, decision makers, and people carrying the failure.

Applied exercise

Identify who benefits, who pays, and who can appeal.

03Harm and benefit

Treat misuse, exclusion, overreliance, labor transfer, privacy, and dignity as design inputs.

Applied exercise

Create a harm/benefit register with owners and mitigations.

04Context of use

Study environment, urgency, expertise, emotion, device, connectivity, and social meaning.

Applied exercise

Observe or simulate the interaction in the messiest realistic setting.

The complete course adds the teaching deck, Alternate Clouds lab, source-bounded guide, review rubric, and instructor feedback.

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