TAMPA, Fla. — You’ve probably noticed, artificial intelligence seems like it’s everywhere these days.
“It’s impacting all different aspects of our lives, or starting to at least, right?” Said Sudeep Sarkar, Launch Dean of the Bellini College of Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity and Computing.
In the past few years, its use has become more widespread.
WATCH: USF launches state's first college of artificial intelligence
AI will likely impact most industries, so the University of South Florida decided to jump in headfirst.
“This is a new experiment, a new very bold experiment that USF has stepped up to do to address this transition that’s happening in society because of AI,” said Sarkar.
In August, USF opened the Bellini College of Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity, and Computing.
It’s the first college in the state and among the first in the nation to have a school dedicated to AI.
“The question for USF was to think about how to prepare our next generation of students in this new workplace,” said Sarkar.
This is the college’s first semester, and they already have about 3,000 students, including both undergraduate and graduate students.
“I've been able to experience these new classes, have these cool projects that you know I could put on my resume, apply for jobs and become more competitive,” said Andrew Chettipally, who’s a student in the Bellini College of Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity, and Computing.
He’s a senior at USF and wants to be a software engineer.
He told Tampa Bay 28 that he believes AI will become a necessary tool in the workforce.
“In the modern world, how it is now, is you need to use AI tools to be more competitive, right and stay ahead,” said Chettipally.
Charitie Martino is a graduate student with a psychology background who is now studying artificial intelligence.
“Really, what drew me to this new USF College of AI is I want to understand intelligence and information processing on multiple levels… On one hand I do feel like I’m learning a whole new language that’s very, very interesting and cool but I am immersed in this whole new frame of thinking,” said Martino.
The founders of this new college believe Tampa Bay can become “Cyber Bay”.
“As the place where people come to look for solutions related to cybersecurity and AI," said Sarkar.
Leaders hope this move will bring more businesses and AI startups to the area.
“What we need in the region, and this is where we come in, is to be the engine for the workforce, right? So we want to be the university, the college that provides the workforce in this important topic the in intersection of AI, cybersecurity, and computing to our local industry and also nationwide,” said Sarkar.
There are plans to eventually expand the Bellini College of Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity, and Computing.
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