By: Lexx Thornton
North Carolina Central University is a public historically black university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by James E. Shepard in affiliation with the Chautauqua movement in 1909, it was supported by private funds from both Northern and Southern philanthropists.
For more than a century, NC Central has prepared students to transform communities. Just this April, they took is a step further but with AI. North Carolina Central University will lead the way among HBCUs with the first of its kind program, the “Institute for Artificial Intelligence and Emerging Research,” this fall. “This institute is the first of its kind nationally, and we’re very proud of that,” institute director Dr. Siobahn Day Grady said.
This program is advancing AI education for its students to the next level with OpenAI. OpenAI may sound familiar to you as they are an American artificial intelligence research organization founded in December 2015. They also own and developed ChatGPT. This collaboration empowers students, faculty, and the community to blossom within the AI community.
This year the school will launch its bachelor’s degree program in AI this Fall 2025. Their capacity will be 150 students starting. With this degree opportunity, it will allow black students and graduate students to help create real-world solutions through science and technology. Duke University has had a Masters program in AI since 2021 and North Carolina Central University is ready to launch something for theirs. Why can’t their black students have the same opportunity they thought; but their thoughts became executed.
Black people make up 8% of the AI/technology population and roughly 2% of the admin role population. Why is that? Is it because we lack those AI courses at our schools? While it may be a challenge to pinpoint all HBCU’s with AI education & resource classes, here are some to start with:
- Morehouse College: Offers an AI course (CS 425-01 Artificial Intelligence).
- Spelman College: Offers courses like CIS 432 Artificial Intelligence and CIS 435 Robotics.
- Howard University: Offers an Introduction to Machine Learning course.
- Morgan State University: Aims to increase AI literacy in communities of color.
- Hampton University: Part of a consortium with Deloitte AI Institute.
- Tougaloo College: Part of a consortium with Deloitte AI Institute.
- North Carolina A&T State University: An HBCU that is a top conferrer of AI-related PhDs to Black students.
- South Carolina State University: AI has helped improve enrollment and customer support.
- Norfolk State University: AI has helped develop a language model that better reflects the HBCU experience.
- Grambling State University: AI has helped with student resume support.
- Florida A&M University: An HBCU that is a top conferrer of AI-related PhDs to Black students.
