The College of Engineering, Computing, Technology, and Mathematics at SIU.
CARBONDALE, Ill. — Southern Illinois University will offer a Bachelor of Science degree in artificial intelligence in fall 2026, raising ethical concerns from some students.
According to SIU, students in the AI+ program will choose a partnering minor, which include fields like journalism, music, art and more. The curriculum in AI+ will supplement their minor by teaching students how to use the technology to be more efficient in their field.
“Students will learn a lot of AI technology in a systematic way,” said Frank Liu, dean of the College of Engineering, Computing, Technology, and Mathematics. “Once they learn those AI technologies, they have to learn how to apply them to different domains to solve problems.”
Dean of the College of Engineering, Computing, Technology, and Mathematics Frank Liu standing in front of the supercomputer in the School of Computing at SIU.
SIU freshman Rowan Cahill questioned the ethics of using AI in fields like journalism and art.
“It’s not original creative work,” Cahill said. “It’s a bunch of other people’s work strung together by a robot. When it comes to the arts, when it comes to journalistic integrity, I don’t approve of it.”
“They are sacrificing human qualities, which is something that should always come first,” said Katie Polk, a freshman at SIU.
Liu said there are plenty of ethical ways to utilize AI and that the AI+ program will make students more favorable in the job market.
“The employer will like that better, because the guy can do three guys jobs, or maybe five,” Liu said. “In the future, those people with AI skills definitely will have an advantage.”
Liu said the program will help artists, photographers, and video editors through content creation that can’t be made by a human.
“AI can actually help people to create new content never created before,” Liu said. “You can use AI to do better job. They could generate the better image, the better videos.”
The supercomputer used to power many of the equipment used in AI+ courses at the university.
Polk said images and videos created by AI don’t have the same effect on people as they lack a “personal touch.”
“AI cannot produce art that is meaningful,” Polk said. “Why not just commission an actual painter and give someone who actually put that talent in and actually has a soul to give it time.”
Liu added that business students will see improvements in efficiency through the program.
“In business, you have a lot of workflow,” Liu said. “The AI agent can help dealing with individual tasks, business tasks. So, when they use AI to create those agents, they could do all kinds of things.”
SIU will be the first public university in the state to have an AI+ major and one of around 10 in the country. The program will be open to all students at SIU.