CARBONDALE, Ill. (KFVS) – Southern Illinois University in Carbondale announced a new bachelor\u2019s degree in artificial intelligence as the technology continues to reshape the workforce.<\/p>\n
The university joins a short list of other schools across the country adding the offering.<\/p>\n
SIU\u2019s dean of engineering said students will not just study AI, but develop their own AI tools and agents, learning not just how AI works but how to apply it in real-world industries.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou need somebody to understand the AI technology, integrate them together, and then make it work for the company, right? So those skills basically will be taught and our students will be learned in this degree program,\u201d Frank Liu said.<\/p>\n
As artificial intelligence becomes more common, Liu said it\u2019s changing what employers need and what students should learn.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople heard that AI take jobs away. But at the same time, AI create jobs. And that also make job easier,\u201d Liu said.<\/p>\n
The university developed a new \u201cAI Plus\u201d bachelor\u2019s degree, where students learn the technology and pair it with another field through a required minor.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople know about technology, but there\u2019s a gap between technology and application domain. So the students in this degree program basically learn both, right? So they can fill the gap between technology and applications,\u201d Liu said.<\/p>\n
The move comes at a time where concerns are growing about how AI could impact careers, especially in creative fields like art and media.<\/p>\n
But Liu said AI still depends on human input.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are a lot of defects. So there\u2019s take a lot of iterations and human creativity to make it better. So it\u2019s kind of human AI interactions to make it work,\u201d Liu said.<\/p>\n
Liu said the demand for AI efficiency is rising fast, with jobs requiring those skills expected to grow 20 percent annually until 2030.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the start of a journey, AI journey, not the end of it,\u201d Liu said.<\/p>\n
The program will start this fall.<\/p>\n
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