With all roads inevitably leading to a technology future dominated by artificial intelligence, Trine University started offering a Master of Science in Artificial Intelligence (MSAI) degree this year.
“It’s an online, one-year master’s degree program requiring 30 credit hours,” says Erich Barlow, a program matter expert and content developer for TrineOnline. “The field of IT is evolving and the future direction is AI. MSAI students will gain knowledge and expertise in foundational AI and technically focused AI courses, providing a rich and foundational skill set that stands out in the job market.”
Just as the technology in this field is constantly evolving, so, too, are the programs being offered through Trine.
Wendy Yagodinski is the department chair and assistant professor of computer science and information technology at Trine’s main campus in Angola. She and her colleagues are exploring the option of an AI minor at Trine after the school recently received an appropriation from the Department of Defense to work with Crane Naval Base in Crane, Indiana.
“We were charged to develop an AI-driven simulation to combat the drug traffic coming into the United States through the Gulf of Mexico,” says Yagodinski. “We had an 18-month project with 11 of our students to develop this AI simulation and they presented it to many high-level naval personnel. This has resulted in another appropriation that we hope to start in the spring. We are working to have the AI minor ready to go by fall. It’s a challenge because we’re developing curriculum that is constantly changing.”
Yagodinski says the students who have since graduated after working on the Department of Defense project have all been hired to work at Crane Naval Base on bleeding edge technology and even have security clearances.
“AI is creeping into pretty much all areas of IT and engineering, including cyber security, programming, health care, robotics, automation, data science, analytics and the gaming arena. We are excited about the opportunities that are coming out of our research, and our students are going to be poised to become leaders in their industry with this knowledge.”
Both Barlow and Yagodinski say companies all over the world are seeing an ever-increasing need for employees with expertise in AI. The list of career opportunities in the field is long and includes machine learning engineer, data scientist, computer vision engineer, algorithm engineer and business intelligence analyst.
“Many businesses are already using AI as a necessary tool,” says Barlow. “The skills students will gain at Trine University in this field will provide them with a foundation for helping the businesses they work for take advantage of the new transformational technology that everyone is discussing these days.”
Having spent her entire career in IT, Yagodinski recognizes the importance of acknowledging ethics in AI and proceeding with caution, which is why she made sure an AI ethics course will be part of the curriculum.
“I have always told my employees and students to think about the Spiderman philosophy when they’re working on bleeding edge technology: ‘With great power comes great responsibility.’ We need to ask ourselves if we should be doing the things that we are doing and not just evolve technology for evolution’s sake.”
While other colleges and universities in Indiana offer AI degrees, Trine has taken a different approach that Barlow believes will give students a more rounded and usable degree, to provide students with the skills to make them more sought after in the AI industry.
“Some other schools that offer an AI program require an IT or computer science undergrad as a prerequisite. Students do not need a prior educational background in engineering, IT or computer science to be enrolled in the MSAI program. I believe Trine is a step ahead in this matter as we are looking to develop individual AI skills from the ground up, and it’s essential that we have this open to as many folks as possible. There is a considerable need to have trained and competent AI professionals, and that is what Trine is looking to provide.”
Yagodinski says in addition to implementing the AI minor program in the near future, she and her staff are also looking into the possibility of offering a bachelor’s degree at some point. But again, she believes the smart way to proceed is with caution.
“If we decide to offer a full bachelor’s degree in AI, it will probably mirror the computer science degree plus the AI minor with a few adjustments. I encourage everyone to jump into the waters of AI and learn as much as you can so you can be an informed user and reap the benefits without succumbing to the possible pitfalls.”
