With the evolution of artificial intelligence, what does the future of education look like?

At the University at Albany, the answer is AI Plus.

"For me as provost, what I want to see is that our students are the top candidate for every job, for every grad school they apply to, for every professional school they apply to, and more and more into the future A.I. is going to be that competitive edge for future employees," said UAlbany Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Carol Kim.

AI Plus is not considered a program within the school. It's an institution-wide recognition of the centrality of AI to what the school believes is the future of knowledge creation, scientific discovery, creative expression and workforce development.

"If you look at the workplace, the employers are looking for future employees that have a working knowledge of AI," said Kim. "It's incredibly important, not just in STEM areas."

Alessandra Buccella, an assistant professor in the philosophy department, was one of 27 new faculty hires as part of AI Plus.

"I was one of the very few people hired in non STEM fields as part of this initiative, which says that they want to bring AI in conversation with the humanities and the social sciences, which I think is an aspect that maybe people don't really realize that much its importance," said Buccella. "But, it is crucial, especially in this day and age, when a lot of technology is just embedded very silently into a lot of the things that we do."

Beginning in fall 2026, AI will be integrated into an existing 30-credit requirement, something the university got ahead on with AI Plus.

"Whether you recognize it or want to admit it or not, AI is impacting our lives," said Kim. "So if you have a smartphone, if you have a smart speaker, AI is part of your life, and so what we wanted to do is to make sure that our students are the best prepared that they can be."