Last week, members of the Howard University AI Advisory Council and its associated subcommittees shared details on the state of the university’s AI Initiative and how the campus community is integrating technology in several key areas at the AI Initiative Town Hall.
Speakers at the event provided an update on the work underway since the initiative launched in 2024. Dr Anthony Wutohdean and chief academic officer of the university, co-chairs the AI Advisory Council and shares the overall goals of the AI Initiative.
“I want to make sure we are providing educational opportunities for our students, faculty and staff, and creating innovative new programs,” Wutoh said. The initiative is one of the ways the university is “implementing AI in ways that help us be more efficient in our academic processes,” he added.
Dr. Talitha Washingtonexecutive director of Howard Center for Applied Data Science and Analytics and co-chair of the board, hosted the event and provided an overview of the university’s institutional roadmap for leveraging AI technology.
She emphasized that “AI should enhance, not replace, our core elements of teaching, learning and research.”
Howard’s New AI Certificate Program
One of the AI Initiative’s major advancements includes the upcoming launch of the university’s AI certificate program, which is expected to begin next fall. Dr. Kenneth Andersonvice provost for undergraduate studies, explained that the certificate program will target current undergraduate, graduate and professional students.
“Our goal is to allow certificate courses to count toward a degree or internship, so we are not trying to create additional barriers for students to complete these courses,” said Anderson, chair of the board’s AI Capacity and Expertise Subcommittee.
Anderson and his subcommittee team hosted an AI curriculum workshop earlier this month to gather feedback from faculty members on what the AI certificate program should include.
“Teachers have repeatedly told us they need more training, training resources and infrastructure support,” he said. “The faculty prioritized three key courses for the certificate program: introduction to AI tools and techniques; Ethnic and responsible AI; and AI in the disciplines. »
The University’s AI policy
Dr Kweli Zukeriassistant vice president of innovation and web strategy, leads the board’s AI Strategy and Governance subcommittee and provided updates on the group’s work to develop Howard’s formal AI policy. He explained that the policy is currently being finalized and will largely focus on the use of AI in four functional areas: teaching and learning; research and scholarship; engagement and partnerships; and the use of AI in work-related activities.
Zukeri’s subcommittee is focused on setting the university’s direction and providing guidance on integrating AI responsibly, particularly as the technology continues to evolve.
“The AI policy does not intend to talk about everything, it is a high-level general overview,” Zukeri said. “We are preparing for the rapid pace of new AI tools and saturation. We need to be holistic and optimistic, but at the same time curious and skeptical. When it comes to people of African descent, a lot of these technologies have been used to act on us and not for us. Authenticity is so important in this space and in how we improve these technologies, especially for the Black community.”
Zukeri referred to the way Howard directed “Raising Black Voices Project“, a collaboration with Google, is working to address inequities in AI speech recognition for Black users. To be more informed on how to approach the development of the university’s AI strategy, Zukeri and his team conducted a campus-wide AI survey of students, faculty and staff earlier this year.
Several notable themes emerged from respondent comments, including students expressing concerns about over-reliance on technology, academic integrity, and environmental impact. Faculty and staff surveyed were also concerned about academic integrity, as well as policy clarity, concerns about data privacy, infrastructure, and responsible use.
Expand partnerships with businesses
Dr. Allison Bryantvice president for corporate relations, explained the university’s ongoing corporate partnerships with “companies that believe in the responsible (or ethical) use of AI.”
Bryant serves as chair of the AI Infrastructure and Partnerships Subcommittee and has worked with the university’s Enterprise Technology Services team to determine the resources Howard will need to integrate and implement various AI tools.
“Understanding what the gaps look like allows us to make targeted requests not only for software or hardware, but also for the bandwidth required to be able to operate these systems appropriately. So there’s work to be done in that area,” Bryant said.
She explained Howard’s partnership with OpenAI, an AI research and development company that created popular tools such as ChatGPT and DALL-E. The university is one of 15 partner institutions that make up OpenAI NextGenAI Consortiuman initiative to accelerate AI research and education. Earlier this year, Howard received a $2.25 million grant from OpenAI to continue his AI research and development.
“We will be issuing a mini request for grant proposals for people capable of doing research in the field of AI and for those looking to develop new models or other products using this platform. We plan to launch the call for applications early next year,” Bryant explained.
In addition to partnering with Google and OpenAI, Howard has also collaborated with Microsoft to expand AI education to students. Last month, a team of Howard students won first place in the first Microsoft AI Policython. Hosted by Black at Microsoft – DMV Chapter, the competition challenged students from Howard, the University of the District of Columbia and Coppin State University to tackle real-world problems related to AI while preparing and presenting policies based on hypothetical scenarios. By working directly with Microsoft mentors, teams gained invaluable experience at all stages of policy development, from identifying a problem to researching, writing, and defending a solution in front of real-world experts.
Photos by Adriana Fraser, Howard University Office of University Communications