National Applied Artificial Intelligence Consortium

Although Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been around for decades, AI burst into the modern workforce in 2022 with the release of AI based tools like ChatGPT. It is estimated that fifty percent of businesses have adopted AI, and that AI will require the entire workforce to learn new skills. The goal of this project is the creation of the National Applied Artificial Intelligence Consortium (NAAIC).

The NAAIC will contribute to the development of a highly skilled AI workforce by forming a national community of practice, and a repository of resources that will allow faculty to develop capacity in applied and responsible AI. The establishment of a national AI consortium will allow educators and industry to work together to develop the curriculum required to meet the needs of the emerging AI workforce.

The NAAIC will foster the development and implementation of technician-level AI courses, certificates, and degree programs enabling educators to provide students with the knowledge and skills to work as technicians in the AI workforce. This will be accomplished by: (1) Cultivating and engaging a National AI Business & Industry Leadership Team that will identify, update, and disseminate the evolving and emerging requisite knowledge and skills that industry believes will be required of workforce-ready graduates; (2) Supporting 2-year colleges in the development and implementation of ethical and responsible technician-level AI courses, certificates, and degrees; and (3) Advancing the development of faculty qualified to teach AI within 2-year colleges.

This project is funded by the Advanced Technological Education program that focuses on the education of technicians for the advanced-technology fields that drive the nation's economy.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.