Since September, a task force within the Data, AI, and Computing Initiative has been exploring the best means of incorporating AI into Notre Dame’s curriculum.
The initiative is led by professor of computer science and engineering and founding director of the Lucy Family Institute for Data and Society Nitesh Chawla. It seeks to advance the University’s research in all subject areas and assist educators in finding better ways to incorporate AI into their curriculum. It may also add new courses and degrees to the University’s repertoire.
The initiative is part of the 2033 Strategic Framework, which organizes efforts to further various University goals over the next decade.
The task force, in partnership with ND Learning, is compiling their findings in a report that will be submitted to the University in the spring semester. The report will consider potential courses, programs and degrees that the addition of AI could create.
In an interview with The Observer, Chawla explained the initiative aims to address the reality that data, AI and computing affect nearly all academic programs at the University.
The task force’s website maintains that “It will not consider any existing programs or curricula, only new offerings.”
Heading the task force are co-chair professors Patrick Flynn and Michael Hildreth. Flynn is the undergraduate lead, while Hildreth will lead the graduate aspects of the task force. Flynn denied a request for comment.
The task force is split into two focuses: the graduate and undergraduate curriculum.
The undergraduate component of the task force will seek to support professors as they navigate how data, AI and computing will impact their courses as well as explore the inclusion of a data, AI and computing requirement into the University’s core curriculum.
For professors, this means they will know longer need to fight what Chawla calls the inevitability of students using AI for their coursework. Instead, AI will be incorporated into their courses, with the goal of preserving the core principles of the class.
Chawla envisions a course that would teach students the fundamentals of AI, and the risks and responsibilities that come with using it as they apply it in the workforce. He noted even just a Google search brings students face-to-face with AI.
The task force will recommend one of two options: implementing the requirement at the University level, or kicking the responsibility down to colleges and schools, who could shape the requirement to suit their individual needs.
Chawla classifies the University’s approach to AI as unique. While other universities have introduced AI majors, Notre Dame must consider more pedagogical questions about what AI represents inside any course.
The task force plans to host a series of town halls to address the issue — open to faculty, undergraduate advisors and students. A town hall for faculty convenes Monday in the Carey Auditorium of Hesburgh Library, and one for students the next day.
In preparation for the town hall, students were asked to fill out a pre-event google form with their initial thoughts on the following questions:
- What new elective or interdisciplinary courses could be developed to enable all undergraduate students, regardless of major, to learn about data, AI, and computational sciences, especially in the context of professional work demands and expectations?
- What new degrees, majors, or minors might be created to address the topics of data, AI, and computation? Should existing ones be organized or restructured?
- Should data and/or AI and/or computing literacy be a required or core curricular component for all undergraduates, and what would courses in this component look like?
Chawla hopes the gatherings will provide insights into how students are currently using AI, as well as from faculty on how their curricula could be adjusted to account for AI’s presence. She said faculty and their departments will ultimately make those calls.
In an email obtained by The Observer on Oct. 13, students in the Program of Liberal Studies were asked by professor Robert Goulding, a member of the task force, to provide feedback on the possibility of including an AI course to the core curriculum.
“If there were a new Core category on DAC, it would allow humanistic and social science perspectives,” Goudling wrote. “There would also be classes offered out of Engineering that were more technical.”
The email included broad ideas for classes that embody the requirement, including “Computing and Critical Theory,” “AI and the Labor Market” and “History of AI.”
Chawla asked the task force to finish the bulk of the work by the end of the semester. He believes undergraduates and professors alike are owed fast action to ensure they are equipped to navigate how AI is changing education and many aspects of life after graduation.
After the report is completed, Chawla will review the task force’s findings before speaking with the University’s deans to explore their integration into their courses. He hopes the committee’s suggestions will begin to be implemented for the next academic year.
