The launch of an artificial intelligence undergraduate degree program will equip students with the skills to design and understand AI algorithms for real-world impact, and prepare them for a smarter world.
天美传媒 students have a new, forward-looking option in STEM learning starting this fall鈥攁 bachelor of science in artificial intelligence.
The program will teach students to design, build and improve artificial intelligence algorithms from the multidisciplinary perspective of mathematics, statistics and computer science. In the classroom, AI and machine learning faculty will use case studies to help students understand the real-life impact of AI technology. The program builds on the work already taking place at Adelphi to infuse AI education into the curriculum.
As an Adelphi student myself, I asked Associate Professor Kees Leune, PhD, chair of the Department of the Mathematics and Computer Science and an information security officer, to explain the purpose of the new major for students and to dispel some of the misconceptions about the study of AI.
Q: How did the major come about?
Dr. Leune: First and foremost, the world around us is in need of people who understand artificial intelligence. Secondly, in the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, we are almost ideally positioned because our core expertise is mathematics, statistics and computer science. Artificial intelligence works on the intersection of exactly those three fields.
Q: Launching a new major鈥攚as it a difficult decision for faculty?
Dr. Leune: Not at all. Between us, in our three different fields, we have quite a bit of extensive knowledge on how these AI algorithms actually work. So it was clear that this is more than just yet another specialization. This is actually something that deserves to be on its own as a separate major, so that it can be given the proper attention and resources it needs to be successful.
A New Major Focused on AI Algorithms
Q: What kind of content will students be learning?
Dr. Leune: Our primary audience is people who are students with a strong interest in mathematics and computer science. It is a technical curriculum, and they鈥檒l mainly be learning about AI algorithms.
Q: Let鈥檚 say I am already a computer science major鈥攃an I switch into this AI major?
Dr. Leune: Yes. A student might also come in with a strong desire to work with AI but then decide that they鈥檙e more interested in graphics programming or cybersecurity; they can switch, too. So it is definitely a program that allows students to be flexible.
Q: What skills will students master while in this program? 鈥�
Dr. Leune: Students will be able to implement AI algorithms and software. We build things, we analyze problems, we solve problems using software and mathematics. In the context of this program, we figure out how to use artificial intelligence and machine learning to solve problems using mathematics and software.
Understanding the Goals of the AI Degree
Q: How does this degree deal with ChatGPT?
Dr. Leune: It鈥檚 very much not a 鈥測ou come out of this and you know how to perfectly use ChatGPT.鈥� That’s not a goal. However, you come out with it saying, 鈥淚 understand how ChatGPT works and am able to develop large language models.鈥� It鈥檚 software- and math-focused, not emphasizing the application.
In the world we live in, if I teach you all about how to use a particular tool now, and you graduate three years from now, there鈥檚 a good chance that tool is already outdated. What we try to give you is the concept that you can learn to understand the next version of that tool directly.
Q: What about your students using AI in the classroom?
Dr. Leune: When we start thinking about artificial intelligence less as intelligence and more as a really good tool, I think it鈥檒l be more beneficial for all of us in education. In the 1980s, the biggest discussion was one of if we should allow calculators in math classes, because that was 鈥渃heating.鈥� AI is a tool. We’ll figure out how to use it appropriately, and we鈥檒l apply it to our lives.
Q: What careers does the program prepare students for?
Dr. Leune: Specifically, they will be prepared for a career as an AI engineer: someone who designs and builds AI algorithms or someone who designs and builds software using AI algorithms. You will be graduating as a very capable computer scientist who has added knowledge in mathematics and statistics.
Q: How has the new program been received by professors?
Dr. Leune: The entirety of mathematics and computer science faculty has embraced it. For well over a decade, we鈥檝e offered classes called Artificial Intelligence, Introduction to Machine Learning, and Data Science. We have that expertise, but it was fragmented in different places. This new major allows us to focus.
The History鈥攁nd the Future鈥攐f AI
Q: How long has this field been around?
Dr. Leune: Actually, this is a research field that has existed since the middle of the previous century. The 1940s is when the first real reference to 鈥渁rtificial intelligence鈥� started coming out.
Q: Let鈥檚 say I start my bachelor’s degree next year in AI. By the time I graduate, how will I be working with AI?
Dr. Leune: That鈥檚 a good question. The can help us understand that. It鈥檚 a way of thinking about how technology is adopted. Typically, the cycle starts with an innovation that gets people interested. Then the slope goes up quickly. At the top of the peak, we get inflated expectations. I think that鈥檚 where we are now, thinking that AI can solve everything. Once people become disillusioned鈥攖he lowest point in the cycle鈥攚e start to understand how we can really benefit from the technology. I think we are at that peak of inflated expectations, in particular with large language models.
Over the next year and a half, I think we鈥檒l figure out that large language models may not be used everywhere. Instead, I believe that the enabling technology behind that will continue to be developed. We鈥檒l continue discovering new fundamental applications, experiment with them and learn about them.
Interested in this major? Learn more and apply here.