CHARLOTTE, N.C. — As technology advances, the things that artificial intelligence (AI) can do also expand. From generating images with simple text prompts to holding more human-like conversations as chatbots, AI is set to become more integrated across the workforce.
To that end, Central Piedmont Community College in Charlotte says it's helping students get ahead and get on pace.
Central Piedmont announced Tuesday it would open a new associate degree program in artificial intelligence at the start of the Fall 2024 semester. This makes Central Piedmont only the second community college in North Carolina to offer such a degree program.
"We've identified a critical need in our industry area," said Joseph Little, Associate Dean of Technology at Central Piedmont, "to train students to have skills in artificial intelligence, to support the need in the industry as AI is a trending and very disruptive technology that is emerging in not only the local community but the nation as well as the globe itself."
Carl Arrington Jr. is a department chair of software and application development at Central Piedmont, along with data analysis. He will be one of the professors responsible for teaching students how to use the new tools they'll be getting hands-on with.
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"We'll have an introduction to artificial intelligence through a fundamentals course, then there's going to be a couple of different levels of machine learning as well as supervised and unsupervised learning," he said. "There's also going to be some emphasis on generative (AI) as well as chatbot programming on two different courses. And then there's going to be topics on system analysis and design, as well as deep learning, as well as computer vision."
Arrington says students can expect an emphasis on the Python programming language for the fundamentals while also digging into tools from Microsoft, Google Cloud, and Amazon Web Services. Continuing education opportunities are also part of the offerings, and there will be a focus placed on the mathematical concepts tied to AI, such as calculus and statistics.
Another part of the program is making sure that students learn not just how to use AI for their careers, but also how to ensure it isn't misused.
"There is a computer ethics course built into the AI degree," Little said. "We know that artificial intelligence is this powerful tool, it's finding its way into a lot of existing technologies as well as being used to implement customer interactions."
"But there's also that detracting side of it, that malicious potential that's there," Little continued, "and that's something that we also want to make students and trainees aware of -- that you need to be ethical in your deployment of this technology so that you're enhancing the functions of your enterprise, your business, your institution without introducing anything that could be considered detrimental or malicious."
Arrington said he's excited to start teaching within the new program in the fall, which Central Pidemont says will welcome as many as 50 students into the program. The college also said the program will accommodate additional classes of up to 50 students each term, with the goal of helping graduates land entry-level jobs across a variety of industries.
"I'm looking for inspiring that next wave of professionals that are going to be going through our respective doors and campuses to go and take advantage of these opportunities that are going to come with these respective skills," he said. "It's always a really, really, really exciting thing to basically get the chance to go and do something new and then learn as we grow, especially as this technology in this area of study is going to go and evolve as well."
Little notes there will be tracks both for students who want to earn an associate's degree and who want to transfer their credits to continue at a four-year institute. There will also be continuing education opportunities for those not necessarily seeking a degree and seeking mainly to keep their skills fresh.
Prospective students who are interested in the program can email Little or call (704) 330-6513.