With a gift from technology entrepreneur Paul English, UMass Boston alum and the founder of Kayak (among other technology companies), the university established the Paul English Applied Artificial Intelligence Institute in the fall semester of the 2023-2024 academic year. The institute is the nation’s first university-based institute dedicated to optimizing and democratizing the use of AI tools across a broad range of professions.

UMass Boston, the only public research university in the city, is ideally suited to host the institute. Our rigorous academic environment supports the intellectual growth and success of students from diverse socioeconomic, racial, ethnic, linguistic, and cultural backgrounds. Our student body, drawn from and embodying the world’s immense cultural wealth, will be the primary source of Boston’s future talent. Our students’ future is Boston’s future. Equity and an ethic of care are the core values that drive us. 

Inclusive education is a foundational pillar of UMass Boston’s academic philosophy

Nearly 60 percent of our students are first generation college students, over 50 percent are from racial and ethnic minority backgrounds, and approximately 80 percent will enter the Boston area workforce after graduation. The goal of the institute is to give these UMass Boston students in every field the applied, practical tools to succeed in an increasingly AI-powered world. Catalyzed by the Institute and working with our esteemed faculty, we have begun imagining ways to embed and incorporate AI into and across the fabric of our curricula. In doing so, we look to fortify our long-standing commitment to providing a democratizing education, one that is accessible and empowering and ensures our students have the skills to succeed in these modern times.  

A thoughtful, contemplative approach to crafting inclusive AI curricula 

In developing and bringing together new academic and research programs around AI, we will be guided by three considerations:

• How can we use a broadly inclusive education in applied AI — one available to all UMass Boston students who choose to participate — as a tool for creating equitable opportunity in our larger community?
• How can we teach the practical use of AI as a transferable employment skill across all disciplines? 
• How can we lead the creation of an evidence-based approach to using AI as a powerful teaching and learning tool that is robustly anchored in ethical considerations now and moving forward?

AI is creating a tectonic shift in work across all sectors. It offers exciting opportunities for those who know how to harness it and threatens to leave behind those who don’t. As always, those threatened most are members of historically underserved groups, who make up most of the UMass Boston student body. We have a special obligation to support these communities as we wield, shape, and lead on this cutting-edge technology.