Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence Major
Program Director: Eric Pacuit, Ph.D.
The Bachelor of Arts in Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence (AI) has two primary goals. The first is to provide students with the technical skills necessary to engage with contemporary AI in a meaningful way. The second is to provide students with training in human-facing disciplines allowing them to understand, evaluate, and contribute to work in AI in a unique way. The skills developed in this major should be useful for careers in arts, business, education, government, law, medicine, policy, or indeed any field that requires a scientific understanding of AI along with a rigorous appreciation of its ethical, social, and cultural impact.
Program Learning Outcomes
- Apply concepts and ideas from human-facing disciplines to critically evaluate the implications of current and emerging AI technologies.
- Critically evaluate the ethical, social, and cultural implications of AI technologies and their applications.
- Analyze AI systems for biases, transparency, and accountability to ensure fairness, accountability, and responsible outcomes.
- Write technical reports explaining the implementation, challenges, and outcomes of AI projects.\
- Contribute to the design and development of AI applications with an understanding of their technical foundations while ensuring alignment with societal and human values.
In addition to the ARHU college requirements (https://arhu.umd.edu/academics/advising/academic-plans) which include MATH115 for the B.A. in Human-Centered AI, the major consists of 16 courses:
- 9 Core Courses: This includes 6 technical core course and 3 social and ethical core courses.
- 6 Specialization Courses: In addition to completing 9 mandatory core courses, students will choose, by the fall of their junior year, a specialization consisting of 6 courses (along with any extra prerequisites, which may vary across specializations). Currently, there are seven specializations:
- Arts
- Design and User Experience
- Ethics
- Language and Cognition
- Logic, Epistemology, and Machine Learning
- Law, Policy, and Governance
- Society, Culture, and Technology
- 1 Capstone Seminar: Finally, all students will complete a capstone seminar in their final term. The topics for this course will vary from year- to-year. Students may replace this course with an internship.
Technical Core Courses
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Technical Core Courses (18 credits) | ||
| HCAI100 | (AI and the Human Experience) | 3 |
| HCAI120 | (Programming for AI 1) | 3 |
| HCAI121 | (Programming for AI 2) | 3 |
| HCAI200 | (Formal Methods in AI) | 3 |
| HCAI300 | (Artificial Intelligence) | 3 |
| HCAI301 | (Machine Learning) | 3 |
| Ethical and Social Core Courses (9 credits) | ||
| WGSS115 | Gender, Race and Computing | 3 |
| INST204 | Designing Fair Systems | 3 |
| PHIL211 | AI & ETHICS | 3 |
| Specializations (students will choose 6 courses from one of the following specialization areas) | 18-21 | |
| Ethics Specialization | ||
| Privacy, Security and Ethics for Big Data | ||
| Ethical Theory | ||
| Philosophy of Race | ||
| Philosophy of Law | ||
| Topics in Value Theory | ||
| Contemporary Ethical Theory | ||
| Special Topics in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics 1 | ||
HCAI410 | (Fairness) | |
| Language and Cognition Specialization (at least 2 courses must be from LING and 2 courses must be from PHIL) | ||
| Know Thyself: Wisdom Through Cognitive Science | ||
| Philosophy of Language | ||
| Philosophy of Mind | ||
| Topics in Contemporary Philosophy 1 | ||
| Topics in Philosophy of Cognitive Studies 1 | ||
| Syntax I | ||
| Syntax II | ||
| Grammars and Cognition | ||
| Topics in Psycholinguistics 1 | ||
| Logic, Epistemology, and Machine Learning Specialization | ||
| Theory of Knowledge | ||
| Philosophy of Mind | ||
| Logical Theory I: Metatheory | ||
| Logical Theory II: Incompleteness and Undecidability | ||
| Topics in Philosophical Logic 1 | ||
HCAI410 | (Fairness) | |
| Society, Culture, and Technology Specialization | ||
| American Culture in the Information Age | ||
| Special Topics in Digital and New Media Studies | ||
| Creative Approaches to Digital Textuality | ||
| Introduction to the History of Technology | ||
| Technology and Inequality | ||
| Digital Media Theory and Culture | ||
JOUR389W | (News Alchemy: Journalism and Artificial Intelligence) | |
JOUR458A | (Machine Editors: Search Engines, Social Media, AI and The News) | |
| Philosophy of Race | ||
| Gender and Science in Film and Media | ||
| Design and User Experience Specialization | ||
INST430 | (User Experience Research) | |
INST431 | (AI and UX) | |
INST432 | (AI and Human Creativity) | |
INST433 | (Trust, Design, and AI) | |
INST436 | (User Modeling and Personalization) | |
| Technology Design Ethics (Technology Design Ethics) | ||
| Law, Policy, and Governance Specialization (GVPT170 is required for this specialization along with 6 other courses for a total of 21 credits) | ||
| American Government | ||
| Argumentation and Public Policy | ||
| Courts, Law and Justice | ||
| Introduction to Constitutional Law | ||
| Civil Rights and the Constitution | ||
HIST338F | (What Does Government Do?: Rethinking American Political History) | |
| Constitutional History of the United States: From Colonial Origins to 1865 | ||
| Constitutional History of the United States: Since 1865 | ||
| Philosophy of Law | ||
| Topics in Value Theory (PHIL438L Philosophy and Law) 1 | ||
| Contemporary Political Philosophy | ||
| Foundations of Public Policy | ||
| Advocacy in the American Political System | ||
| Gender, Power, and Society | ||
| Arts Specialization | ||
| American Culture in the Information Age | ||
ARCH418J | (Artificial Intelligence and Architecture: Background, Applications, and the Design Process) | |
| Introduction to Digital Art and Design Processes | ||
| Elements of Digital Media | ||
| Communication and Digital Media | ||
| Communication and Digital Visual Narrative | ||
COMM449A | (Artificial Intelligence in the Information Age) | |
| Fundamentals of Theatrical Design | ||
| Media Design | ||
| History of Art, Architecture, and Decor for the Theatre | ||
| Capstone Course | 3 | |
HCAI490 | (Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence Capstone) | |
| Total Credits | 48-51 | |
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Click here for roadmaps for graduation plans in the College of Arts and Humanities.
Additional information on developing a graduation plan can be found on the following pages:
- http://4yearplans.umd.edu
- the Student Academic Success-Degree Completion Policy section of this catalog