UMD Launches Bachelor’s Degree to Explore Human Dimensions of AI

New major aims to ethically advance AI tech, prepare students to address its societal impact.

By Maryland Today Staff 

The University of Maryland has launched one of the nation’s first interdisciplinary undergraduate majors focused on the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on humans, with courses spanning philosophy, ethics, public policy and more.

Housed in the College of Arts and Humanities, the Bachelor of Arts in human-centered AI makes core AI concepts accessible to students from a wide range of backgrounds while emphasizing ethical, social and human perspectives. 

Students can begin taking classes toward the degree this fall and choose from seven specializations: arts; design and user experience; ethics; language and cognition; logic, epistemology and machine learning; law, policy and governance; and society, culture and technology. Technical classes focused on programming and machine learning are also part of the curriculum.

“The Bachelor of Arts in human-centered AI addresses an urgent need for professionals who understand not only how AI works, but also how it affects people, communities and our planet,” said Stephanie Shonekan, dean of the College of Arts and Humanities. “As AI systems are increasingly shaping so many aspects of our everyday lives, we need to equip graduates to guide or regulate their development based on a commitment to ethics, justice and human creativity.”

The new major is one of two undergraduate AI degrees launching at UMD. A second degree, focused on computational structures for AI systems, is housed in the College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences’ Department of Computer Science and will begin in Fall 2027. Together, the degrees further strengthen UMD’s role in preparing the next generation of AI leaders.

“Artificial intelligence is transforming nearly every aspect of society, and universities have a responsibility to help shape how these technologies are developed, taught and used across fields. These new degree programs reflect our campuswide, human-centered approach to AI that combines technical expertise with perspectives from the humanities, arts and social sciences,” said Jennifer King Rice, UMD’s senior vice president and provost. “We want to prepare our students to contribute to AI’s development, but also question it, critique it and guide its use in ways that serve people and society.”

Both degrees were developed in partnership with the Artificial Intelligence Interdisciplinary Institute at Maryland (AIM), created in 2024 to support faculty research, offer innovative and experiential learning opportunities, and focus on responsible and ethical AI technology to advance the public good across industry, government and society.

“These new degrees represent AIM’s core mission to train the next generation of AI researchers and practitioners to work across disciplines and shape the future of AI toward more equitable, humane and socially responsible futures,” said Neda Atanasoski, AIM’s associate director of education and professor and chair of the Harriet Tubman Department of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. “They are unique as AI majors because they are interdisciplinary by design, and they include courses from across UMD's colleges to bring technical, humanistic, social and historical approaches into conversation. Working to build these cross-campus connections has been exciting for AIM, and we look forward to seeing students in both programs learn from one another as they use that training to build AI that uplifts people and society.”

UMD’s new undergraduate programs build on the university’s more than 60-year history developing the foundations of AI technology. U.S. News & World Report ranks UMD among the top 10 public universities in AI in its Best Colleges and Best Graduate School reports. UMD is also one of the top five producers of Ph.D. graduates in AI, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research, and CSRankings.org ranks UMD in the top five in AI among all U.S. universities based on publications from the last five years. The university's AI strength is reflected in its more than 200 faculty members who study and teach AI, as well as its existing Master of Science in artificial intelligence and Master of Engineering in engineering artificial intelligence programs.

A version of this article was originally published in Maryland Today. Illustration by iStock.