- Ohio State University is making AI literacy a necessity For all undergraduate students starting in 2025. The university’s new “AI Fluency” initiative includes hands-on workshops and dedicated courses designed to enable students to responsibly use generative AI in their field of choice.
Ohio State University requires all students to learn how to use AI. The university’s “AI Fluency” initiative, Announced last weekdesigned to ensure that all students can apply AI tools and applications in their fields.
“Through AI fluency, Ohio State students will be ‘bilingual’ – fluent in the major research areas and applications of AI in the field,” said Ravi V. Bellamkonda, executive vice president and provost at Ohio State, in a statement. “Based on a strong sense of responsibility and possibility, we will prepare Ohio State students to harness the power of AI and lead the future of their learning fields.”
Starting in fall 2025, hands-on experience using AI tools will become a core expectation for every undergraduate student in the university, regardless of their field of study.
Students will receive an introduction to Generative AI in the first few weeks of college, while further training will enter the first year of college success series. These workshops will aim to provide students with early exposure to real-world applications of AI and will provide a wider range of workshops throughout the school year.
“Ohio State’s faculty and staff have been pioneers in exploring the transformative potential of AI and driving innovation in research and education,” said Peter Mohler, executive vice president of research, innovation and knowledge at the university. “Our university leads with a multidisciplinary approach to leveraging the benefits of AI to greatly shape the future of learning and discovery.”
University is changing perspectives on AI
Last year, universities have been gradually changing their AI usage, and many have begun to incorporate these technologies into the classroom. Tensions around AI on university campuses The greater tensions around university campuses are a flash point as the technology creates some tensions between students and professors.
After students realized that tools like Openai’s Chatgpt were able to produce decent articles in seconds, students were some early adopters of the technology. This has prompted an increase in the number of students using AI to deceive homework, but has also led to some false allegations from professors.
Most American universities have been trying to define and allow certain “acceptable” use of AI in students and professors, but sometimes that guidance sometimes strives to keep pace with technological advancements. Ohio State University’s recent initiatives have made greater progress than most universities and have raised the argument that students need to improve their skills in AI before entering the workforce.
Introductory jobs are usually the most recent graduates and are some of the jobs with the most AI automation. Recently, it has been argued that we have seen these jobs disappear.
“Ohio State has the opportunity and responsibility to enable students not only to keep track but to lead this future workforce,” Walter “Ted” Carter Jr, the president of the university, said in a statement.
He added: “Artificial intelligence is changing the way we live, work, teach and learn. Every job in every industry will be affected to some extent by AI in the near future.”
This story was originally fortune.com
