A Bachelor of Science in artificial intelligence will be available this fall.

The major is designed for students who want to develop their own artificial intelligences with the knowledge and skills they acquire in the areas of computer programming, math and statistics.

“It is a theory and application-based program, so they’re going to learn a lot of programming, they’re going to learn machine learning, and they’re also going to learn how to apply it to different areas,” said program lead and Department Chair of Mathematics and Computer Science Dr. Steven Tedford.

Students will also learn the ethical applications of artificial intelligence.

“One of the big things you learn about is that AI has bias,” Tedford said. “so being able to recognize that and being able to counter that.”
The major’s focus is providing students with the knowledge and skills needed to create AI programs, not simply use existing ones.
“It’s not how do I go and use ChatGPT. It’s how do I make my own version of ChatGPT?” Tedford said.

The major is designed to expand computer programming in response to the rise of AI in today’s world.

“There are a lot of pop-ups and a lot of new companies that are starting out with this, so it’s definitely a hot topic,” Tedford said.

Students will be required to take a mixture of computer science courses and higher-level math classes, along with a few statistics courses.

“[The major includes] a lot of programming courses first couple years, and then you get into AI-specific [classes], and so you learn about exactly what it means to be AI, how to program it,” Tedford said.

A lot of companies. particularly those located in larger cities, are now searching for applicants with experience in building AIs.

“There are other larger businesses and even insurance companies and things that are using AIs, and we need people to be able to take care of it and have innovative ways to start introducing and using AIs in different fields. So, there’s lots of possibilities,” Tedford said.

Tedford feels that some other schools may be taking steps from AI, but Misericordia is moving forward.

“This is going to get our students right up there at the front, so that they’re ready to ride the AI wave because we all know AI is not going anywhere. I think it’s here to stay,” Tedford said.

Dr. Tedford worked side-by-side with Dr. Fanchao Meng, a assistant professor of computer science, to update and modernize the computer science curriculum.

“One of the natural things that came out was the rise of AI, and in particular machine learning, and so we thought that this would be a good application and a good specific program to introduce,” Tedford said.

Tedford said the program is designed to arm students with high-demand knowledge and skills.

“Without any specialty, it’s going to be really hard to get a job. So, having something with the AI area, it definitely will be helpful. It’ll make you definitely more marketable,” Tedford said.

There may also be opportunities for students to get hands-on learning experiences with technology Tedford hopes to bring to campus in the near future. Tedford is looking forward to teaching students new concepts as he grows as well.

“I’m excited about some of the applications that we’re going to get into from the stats point of view. I’m learning a bunch,” Tedford said.

There have even been some retired faculty members reaching out with interest in taking some of the courses.

“Ethical uses of it and stuff like that I think will benefit the entire student population in addition to those who are coming specifically into the program,” Tedford said.

Current students in the computer science major are looking to double major or minor in artificial intelligence to broaden their knowledge, Tedford said. He added that the University supplies students with many real-world examples of the many uses of AI in business and medicine.

“When you do stuff with medical imaging, for instance, when you get it, it is scanned not just by people but also by an AI to scan for things,” Tedford said. “Those kinds of areas are also hopefully what our students are going to be prepared to run to if they have interests going one way or the other.”

The Bachelor of Science in artificial intelligence will start in fall 2027.