AI and Collective Intelligence (Taught)

The MASc in AI & Collective Intelligence at The London Interdisciplinary School (LIS) is for people who want to understand, design and lead systems where humans and machines think and act together, whether in tech, policy, governance, or organisational strategy. It asks: how do groups and AI systems make decisions, and how can we build better ones?

The curriculum for this programme reflects how intelligence actually operates in the real world, across people, machines, institutions, and systems. Rather than treating AI as a purely technical problem or collective behaviour as a purely social one, the programme brings them together through core modules in AI and collective intelligence, shared interdisciplinary methods, and applied learning.

You’ll build the technical literacy, critical judgement, and ethical grounding needed to interpret complex information and work across systems.

On this programme, you will:

• Learn how AI systems work, how groups think and fail, and how intelligence emerges in hybrid human–machine systems.

• Build a toolkit for interpreting data, language, media, and uncertainty to help reduce blindspots.

• Apply what you’ve learned to a real challenge from your workplace or a cause you care about.

Course Modules

AI and Collective Intelligence:

During this degree, participants will take the following four modules on AI and Collective Intelligence.

• Machine Learning & AI

• How Groups Think: Collective Intelligence & Behaviour

• Hybrid Intelligence: Theory, Practice & Fiction

• Hybrid Intelligence Studio

Methods Modules:

All students build a shared interdisciplinary foundation while tailoring their skills to their background and goals. Alongside two compulsory interdisciplinary modules, you will choose one quantitative and one qualitative methods module to develop a balanced, real-world toolkit.

Quantitative Methods:

• Cracking the Code: Learning to programme

• Everything Counts: Probability, statistics, and numerical estimation

Qualitative Methods:

• Re:Form: Understanding and manipulating visual media

• The Right Word: Analysing and creating impactful language

Core Modules:

Throughout the programme, all students take two compulsory module in Engaging Complexity and Integration.

• Complexity

• Integration

Capstone Project:

The Capstone is your chance to tackle a real problem in artificial and collective intelligence. Guided through stages of discovery, integration, and delivery, you’ll apply what you’ve learned to design, test, or evaluate a system that matters to you. Projects might include participatory AI tools, deliberative platforms, or models of group decision-making, producing outputs such as policy briefs, interactive visualisations, or working prototypes you can use as a calling card.

For more information, please visit www.lis.ac.uk

https://www.lis.ac.uk/masc-ai-collective-intelligence