UA Little Rock planning to launch AI bachelor’s degree this fall

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KATV) — University of Arkansas at Little Rock (UALR) plans to launch a bachelor’s degree in artificial intelligence this fall semester, the latest of a growing number of Arkansas universities that are adopting similar programs.

Like it or not, AI is here to stay, and more and more employers are seeking job candidates who are familiar with the powerful and rapidly developing technology.

“So if you follow the job posts today, the number of times you see AI in job descriptions and requirements has dramatically increased, and organizations are hiring dedicated people to manage and govern their AI. And so we’re seeing just a tremendous need in the workforce, and we in higher ed really need to work fast to keep up with that need,” said UALR Computer Science Department Associate Professor Phillip Huff.

UALR started looking into establishing an AI major a year ago to teach skills that aren’t covered in its existing computer science program, like developing AI models.

“So our undergraduate degree, the BS, these people will have tremendous skills in being able to develop the models. They will be able to identify new ways of using AI in the workforce. Our program in AI and the BS program is very rigorous, requires a lot of background in math to complete that degree, and we think it’s going to be a very competitive degree program across the nation,” Huff told KATV.

What’s more, students will earn certificates while in the undergraduate program.

“This is a stackable program, and at the early college level, we have a course of study where you can get a certificate of proficiency and a technical certificate really within your first two years of college,” Huff said.

The AI program is also intended to benefit students outside the major.

“It’s about really getting down to all of our degree programs and providing some basic AI courses and path of study so that no matter whether you’re a nursing major, a business major, legal — we have some background materials, some fundamental knowledge in AI that everyone needs to know now to work in their profession,” Huff said.

The adoption of AI programs at universities isn’t just cashing in on a trend. National security is at stake, and an AI race with China has fueled a sense of urgency in developing American AI models and the workforce that will be wielding them.

“It is a national race, and the resources in AI, our ability to use models developed in the US, that is a strategic advantage. We cannot rely on models from foreign nations to supply our need and to advance the economy,” Huff said. “We have to keep up.”

UALR’s Board of Trustees approved the AI degree last month. All that’s left now is for the Arkansas Department of Higher Education to sign off on it. That process should reach its conclusion in April.

See below for a list of planned new courses in UA Little Rock’s AI program:

• AINT 11003 – AI Foundations
• AINT 12003 – AI Operations
• AINT 21003 – Al Governance
• AINT 22003 – AI Tools and Techniques
• AINT 31003 – Machine Learning I
• AINT 35003 – Machine Learning II
• AINT 32003 – Search and Planning
• AINT 33003 – Probabilistic Reasoning in AI
• AINT 36003 – Natural Language Processing
• AINT 34003 – Robotics
• AINT 43003 – Perception and Computer Vision
• AINT 44003 – Intelligent Agents
• AINT 45003 – Deep Learning
• AINT 46003 – Reinforcement Learning
• AINT 41003 – AI Capstone I
• AINT 42003 – AI Capstone II