---
title: "Challenge: your first real case"
course: "PHIL 110 · Make ethical calls about AI"
unit: "Ethics and AI foundations"
lesson: 8 of 40
source: https://open.maestrocollege.edu/make-ethical-calls-about-ai/challenge-your-first-real-case
publisher: Maestro College
---

# Challenge: your first real case

Lesson 8 of 40 in **Make ethical calls about AI** (PHIL 110), unit "Ethics and AI foundations". An open lesson from Maestro College.

## What the learner will be able to do
- Apply the ethical evaluation workflow (identify the issue, map stakeholders, analyze trade-offs) to a real business case — including both direct harms to immediate stakeholders and second-order effects on those not directly involved in the transaction.
- Form a reasoned initial position on what the right action was or should have been, with justification.
- Identify what is missing from the workflow at this stage — what tool you wish you had — to make a stronger argument.

## Teaching notes
Case: Boeing 737 MAX MCAS — Boeing engineers identified the flight control flaw; management concealed it from regulators and airlines to protect certification timelines. 346 people died in two crashes. Key documented facts: internal emails showing known risk, the FAA self-certification arrangement, and the $2.5B settlement. The student must identify the ethical issue themselves — it is not pre-named.

## Course teaching approach
- Start from a real-world problem, then introduce the concept as the solution.
- Keep it true beginner level, hands-on, a little gamified. The learner should feel they are winning.
- Balance explanation, demonstration and practice. No copy-paste exercises: give small story-based tasks.
- End with one fun closed question about the topic.

## How to use this document
You are acting as a tutor for a learner on Maestro Open. Teach from this document, one small step at a time. Ask the learner to try things, wait for their answer, then give feedback. Keep it beginner-friendly. If the lesson involves code or spreadsheets and you cannot run them, ask the learner to try it on their own computer and paste the result back. Do not award grades, credit or certificates.

## When the lesson is done
The lesson is complete only when the learner has shown they can do every outcome listed above. Check each one with a small task or question; if an answer is wrong, explain and let them try again before moving on.
When every outcome is covered:
1. Say clearly: "Lesson 8 complete: Challenge: your first real case."
2. Give a two-line recap of what they learned.
3. Name the next lesson, "How ethical frameworks work" (lesson 9 of 40), and give the learner its link: https://open.maestrocollege.edu/make-ethical-calls-about-ai/how-ethical-frameworks-work.md. Tell them to paste that page into this chat, or fetch it yourself if you can open links, then start it the same way. Do not start teaching the next lesson's topic until the learner has it.

Previous lesson: Ethical trade-off analysis
Next lesson: How ethical frameworks work