Miami Dade College To Offer State’s First Associate’s Degree In AI
Less than two months after inaugurating its second Artificial Intelligence Center, Miami Dade College is continuing to dive into the world of AI.
Starting this fall, students will be offered the state’s first associate’s degree in Applied AI. Two credit certificate programs will also debut.
The programs were jump started using $15 million amassed through donations from the Knight Foundation, Miami Dade County and the City of Miami Downtown Development Authority.
The initiative, which was developed with the help of Intel, IBM and Microsoft, aims to meet a rapidly growing AI market that is expected to expand from $69.25 billion in 2022 to $1,871.2 billion by 2032.
“We really wanted to build a program that was unique,” said Manny Perez, the dean of the School of Engineering, Technology and Design. “We want our students to walk out of our programs and have all the tools and skills that they need to get a job.”
Miami Dade College’s Applied AI associate in science program is 60 credits and will cost $11,822. Students with financial need can have their classes paid through the Javier Coto Scholarship.
An inaugural cohort of more than 100 students will start the program. They will learn Python programming, natural language processing, statistical methods, cloud computing and how to modify, operate and create AI.
“Being able to [learn] all these technologies is extremely massive because they will be ones we’ll be [using] in the coming years,” said Nicolas Campos, a second year entrepreneurship student at Wolfson Campus who’s working on developing an AI receptionist.
The nine-credit certificate program in AI Awareness will teach students how to utilize AI to conduct data analysis, edit photos and generate writing through classes like AI Thinking (CAI 1603). It will be completed in a semester.
“[AI Thinking] is for everybody,” says professor Eduardo Salcedo, who teaches the class at West Campus. “You don’t need a background in technology, which is usually expected in a course like this.”
Participants will also explore the link between philosophy and AI through the College’s Artificial Intelligence and Ethics course (PHI 26800).
The second AI certificate program—AI practitioner—is an 18 credit pathway that will be completed in two semesters.
Courses include Machine Learning Foundations (CAI 2651), which will introduce students to coding programs such as Python and Introduction to Computer Vision (CAI 2450C), a class that discusses image formation and object recognition.
“My goal was making sure that everything is engaging, but also that students work with applications, and that they learn how to develop AI,” said Norge Pena Perez, a computer science professor at Kendall Campus, who assisted in creating the program’s curriculum.
Courses for the certificate programs and the associate’s degree will be offered through MDC Live and in-person at North, Wolfson, West, Hialeah and Kendall Campus.
For more information about the programs, visit https://www.mdc.edu/aicenter/programs/ or contact the School of Engineering and Technology at entec@mdc.edu.
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