A s artificial intelligence explodes in reach and impact, the Case School of Engineering is taking steps to ensure students can both use the emerging technology and shape its future.

This fall, Case is introducing the university first bachelor’s degree in AI, a major that is expected to prove popular. In addition, the school has introduced a new AI minor to teach non-STEM students the skills they need to use AI on the job.

Both academic programs will be based in the Department of Computer and Data Sciences, which has been preparing for the launch.

“The department has been hiring in these areas and now has a strong group of AI faculty with a broad range of research and course offerings,” said Don Feke ’76, MS ’77, PhD, CWRU’s senior vice-provost for academic and faculty affairs.

The department is home to 17 tenured faculty, nearly double its size of six years ago. Department Chair Vipin Chaudhary, who oversaw the growth, said it will need to expand further but that the school has been hiring with AI capability in mind.

The major was designed by a faculty group led by Michael Lewicki, a professor of electrical engineering and computer science. It offers both a bachelor of science awarded by CSE and a bachelor of arts awarded through College of Arts and Sciences. Much like the BA in computer science, the BA in AI offers some flexibility for non-STEM majors.

“We really wanted to make it rigorous,” Lewicki said. “We want students not only to be able to apply AI tools, but design the tools themselves.”

The major calls for a rigorous core in computer science and the mathematical and statistical foundations of AI. But a broad range of electives allows students to tailor the degree to their interests.

Chaudhary, the Kevin J. Kranzusch Professor in Computer & Data Science, said he wants AI majors to be able to both build and understand AI systems, which he described as separate but critical tasks.

Decades old, artificial intelligence exploded in power in recent years, resulting in products like self-driving cars and “chat bots” that can become digital assistants. People are using AI to write computer code and stories, generate images, and instantly research complex topics. A level of AI fluency is now seen as an essential job skill for many graduates. Still, a lot remains unknown about the technology and its potential impact.

“No one is really clear how these systems work, but they work amazingly well,” not unlike parts of the human body, Chaudhary said. A focus of Case research will be understanding how and why AI behaves as it does, so that engineers can build trust into the systems.

“Things are moving so fast, we need students to start understanding at a much greater scale,” he added. The new minor, with courses like “Artificial Intelligence for All Disciplines” will prepare students to use AI tools in their chosen fields. The major, in contrast, will train them to be AI specialists. Chaudhary said he expects the new major to draw students shifting from other STEM majors, as is happening at other universities.

“I think this is going to be one of the biggest majors” at CWRU, he said. “AI is the future, not only because of the jobs, but because the impact of AI will be huge. Every industry, every discipline, is going to be effected by it.”

Learn more about the BS in Artificial Intelligence HERE.