UK's first class of students aiming for a bachelor's degree in artificial intelligence set to begin studies

UK's first class of students aiming for a bachelor's degree in artificial intelligence set to begin studies

The University of Kentucky will welcome its inaugural full class of artificial intelligence majors this fall.

The class may seem modest — just 33 students — but the official start of the AI major marks a major shift with UK embracing the fast-changing technology as a course of study.

And if you're envisioning a glorified version of using ChatGPT, think again.

The degree starts with the basics, with required courses in programming to get a foothold before heading into topics such as statistics, machine learning, and ethics.

The goal is to produce graduates who know how best to employ the technology to increase productivity, not replace workers.

One new course launching this fall is called TEK100: Collaborative Intelligence, Understanding and Using Modern AI. Dr. Tama The, with UK's College of Medicine, will be teaching the class. He says the rationale is that, unlike some areas of study, AI won't be cordoned off into specific disciplines.

"We expect that every single one of our students who walks through the door is going to be touching AI in some way, right? Whether that is science and medicine and technology, every single one of them are going to need to understand the fundamentals of how to use it," he said.

For those students who are interested but not ready to focus solely on AI, UK is also offering an AI certificate open to students across all majors.