HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. — Artificial Intelligence (AI) is being used in so many ways these days, so Northern Kentucky University wants its students to be prepared.
"I see in medicine at least, they're using more and more AI for machine learning and helping clinicians with diagnosis, decision making in the hospital," said Rami Leventhal, the Manager of Clinical Simulation Operations at NKU.
In the College of Health and Human Services, an AI mannequin in its simulation lab uses AI. It can breathe, has a pulse and can answer questions.
"All you have to do is tell the AI machine, well, you're a 67-year-old with chest pain and shortness of breath and AI takes over," Leventhal said.
This isn't the only way NKU is using AI.
"We as an academic institution have to embrace it, we can't shy away from it and hide from it," Leventhal said.
This fall, NKU will begin offering an AI minor, available to students in any major. Administrators said the hope is to prepare students for the technology of the future.
"Because AI touches everything and every career will be affected by it and every student should have that little bit of advantage," said NKU's College of Informatics Dean, Kevin Kirby.
The minor will encompass how AI is used, the ethics of using it and legal challenges.
“Learning in your field, how to balance AI with what you bring to it as a human is very important and that’s what we want this minor to do," Kirby said.
The students recognize the importance of AI, just like the professors do.
"Anything that we can do to kind of be on the cutting edge of what's coming next is going to be able to help us as we're going forward," said NKU Nursing student, Kathleen Gibbs.
