UMD launches new AI institute, offers more courses for students

COLLEGE PARK, Md. (DC News Now) — With more efforts to incorporate artificial intelligence (AI) in the workforce, the University of Maryland (UMD) is now adding more courses for students interested in the field.

“AI is likely to change the shape of a lot of people’s careers going forward, whether you’re, you know, a journalist or an artist or a historian or a computer scientist,” said Hal Daume III, a professor of Computer Science at the University of Maryland.

The university made the announcement last Tuesday.

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The hub for faculty and students will be known as the Artificial Intelligence Interdisciplinary Institute at Maryland (AIM).

“Every student should be, you know, sort of like level set in like what they know about AI, both for, like their own progress through their degree, but also for their future career,” Daume said. “So you might be a history major who then gets a minor in AI or a certificate in AI and like, hopefully, that both helps you do your job as a historian and also helps your employability… at the point that you graduate.”

Most of the AIM program “will start rolling out in the fall.”

There are also efforts to create a workforce development program for community members who are not UMD students.

“People who are currently in the industry who want to upskill or learn more about AI, we want to be able to provide, you know, sort of postgraduate certificate programs and things like that to, you know, sort of amplify the local workforce,” Daume said.

The Prince George’s County Economic Development Corporation is now accepting applications from small business owners in the county who are interested in AI. They’ve designed a program in partnership with UMD. The deadline to apply is April 26.

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