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Bridgewater State's Center for Artificial Intelligence prepares students for changing workforce

By
Paul Burton
Paul Burton
Paul Burton is a general assignment reporter for WBZ-TV News.
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Paul Burton

/ CBS Boston

It's a busy time for seniors and graduate students at Bridgewater State University in Massachusetts as they get ready to walk across the stage and apply for jobs.

Muhammed Yosef is a grad student studying computer science. "I built my portfolio using an AI tool. This comes in handy when applying for jobs," he said.

For the past year he's been spending a lot of time participating in BSU's Center for Artificial Intelligence which opened last summer. It's become a leadership hub for the institution providing guidance around the human-centered, ethically responsible use of AI.

"We are seeing AI being used across a variety of different fields, so students they need to gain those skills in order to be able to thrive within those fields. We are seeing not just careers happening in computer science, but education, healthcare, all across the board," said Eric LePage, assistant VP for AI and ed tech innovation.

"Very soon we will see AI being a skill that school administrators will be looking for in teachers and we want to be ahead of that curve," said Dr. Anne Hird, a professor in secondary education at BSU. 

She teaches students who are preparing to become public-school teachers, and she says learning AI is critical.

"Right now, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education for the state is moving rapidly ahead integrating AI requirement into elementary and secondary schools," Hird said. "The biggest problem I see is that people who don't use AI assume students are cheating. That's what we need our students to know when they go out to teach is how you are going to use it in the assignments you give."

Graduating senior Sam Oo is a political science major, he says his experience at the Center of AI a Research and Innovation Assistant has changed his perspective on his career path.

"I feel like consulting where I can work with multiple clients in different industries, that feels like the main fit for me and I feel like that's the fit for a lot of people who are equipped with AI," Oo said. "They can go into any problem set and problem solving and critical thinking is the key here."

Yosef says BSU's Center for AI helped him land his internship at Metro South Chamber of Commerce which he hopes will lead to a full-time job somewhere when he graduates. "I'm developing their tool bots for them and that's purely the purpose to fully automate their workflow right now," Yosef said. "People know that I worked in these fields, I built some projects and I can actually work for them. That's my target right now."

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