Central Piedmont will offer AI degree this Fall
CHARLOTTE (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — Inside Central Piedmont Community College’s technology building, there’s a command center, of sorts.
“What you’re seeing is all of the malicious activity that is going on, on the global scale. Literally, right now,” said Joseph Little, Associate Dean of Technology at Central Piedmont.
It’s the latest technology being used in the classroom. In the fall, Central Piedmont is launching a two-year Artificial Intelligence Associate Degree program just approved by the state board of education.
“You see AI everywhere, so it’s infiltrating, and it’s disrupting business, at large,” Little said. “So, whether it’s [on] a local scale or global scale, you’re not going to get away from artificial intelligence nowadays. You will find it in almost every aspect of your day-to-day life.”
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Little says this degree has been about a year in the making. Central Piedmont is offering 12 different classes to teach students about data analytics, data science, AI machine learning, chatbot development, generative AI and industry ethics.
“Charlotte is the number two financial center in the United States behind New York,” Little said, “so if you were to turn around and look outside that window, you would see the skyline with a lot of our banking headquarters. The finance industry is heavily invested in artificial intelligence, machine learning and data science, and this degree will support those skills for students.”
Students like Jeffrey Viands, who is studying Data Analysis, and interning at one of the big banks.
“It’s very progressive,” Viands said. “I think, in order to compete with current market trends with jobs and all that sort, going into AI would help a lot of people progress any kind of field that they’re working on,” he said.
Careers rooted in AI knowledge can be rewarding straight out of college.
“You’ll see salary ranges between $70,000 and $140,000,” Little said.
This program will support 50 students; currently, 56 have signed up. As AI develops, Central Piedmont expects its professors to keep up with the ever-changing industry.
“We want to stay at the leading edge of where AI is,” Little said.
For more information on the program, email Joe Little at joe.little@cpcc.edu or call 704-330-6513.
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