In fall of 2025, Murray State will offer Racers a new minor in the study of Artificial Intelligence (AI). This decision came from the Undergraduate Studies Committee of the Academic Council, an organization that deals with program and course changes and academic proposals.
Matthew Tennyson, associate professor and department chair of computer science and information systems (CSIS), proposed the minor to the University. He said AI is a growing field and is becoming more prominent in all facets of society.
Tennyson said the minor consists of already existing courses, many of which involve other departments, and nothing new has been made for it. He listed some of the courses he referred to: ECO 481 (Business Data Mining), EGR 425 (Bio-inspired Intelligent Systems) and FIN 435 (Foundations of Finance Technology).
The minor will require its students to take core courses in programming, AI and machine learning, with elective options in gaming, robotics, business, finance, art, philosophy and more.
“We hope it’ll attract new students to the program and the University,” Tennyson said. “It’s important that we offer programs that are relevant and current to today’s students.”
Tennyson said the goal of this minor is to equip students with foundational knowledge.
He said this knowledge in AI and machine learning will enable students to apply these skills to real-world problems across various fields.
“Students will learn to build AI algorithms and consider the ethical implications of AI,” Tennyson said. “They’ll also develop the skills necessary to contribute to the rapidly evolving field of AI, and also to use AI to solve problems across all sorts of domains more efficiently and effectively.”
Jason Owen, assistant professor, will teach generative Al in a special topics course next semester. He said students who complete this course, using tools in the application of AI in various fields, will understand how AI works and also how to use it in numerous “competencies.” The competencies he mentioned for this course include but are not limited to, coding and debugging, personalizing marketing campaigns, automating data analysis and reporting, virtual personal assistants, resume writing, product design and prototyping, legal document drafting, creative visual art and media design. Owens said he intends to make this course more available.
“It is my mission to add this much needed course to the full-time curriculum of the CSIS department,” Owen said. “I personally believe that this course goes far beyond just computer science and information systems majors but is critical for anyone who may encounter the use of AI in their future careers.”
Owen said AI has become an integral part of everyday life and it is the next incorporation of technological advancement, comparing its “revolutionizing of the world” to the Internet and Google. He said the AI minor will give students skills that they can apply to having a “virtually free personal assistant” that can do the things he’s described, which will only scratch the surface of what AI could potentially do.
“The true benefit of the minor in AI is learning how to use various AI tools and understanding how they work,” he said. “This alone will aid in breaking down the greatest barrier to AI’s adoption into greater usage, the problem of user acceptance and overcoming preconceived ideas about what AI is and how it can actually be used.”
Zheng Zhang, assistant professor, has worked on the study of AI for over seven years, as well as published more than 10 research papers on it in the past two years. He said students will also acquire practical experience in problem-solving and critical thinking.
Students will have the opportunity for hands-on projects to build, test and deploy AI systems, machine learning, natural language processing, data analytics and the ethical implications.
Under his mentorship, students will have the chance to study and research AI in the focus of Language Model (LLM) misinformation, hate speech bias and “hallucinations.”
“These topics are not only relevant but critical as AI continues to intersect with societal issues,” Zhang said. “Such research fosters a deeper understanding of AI’s limitations and ways to mitigate its challenges.”
Zhang said AI is one of the most transformative technologies of our time, and by offering this minor, it will allow students the knowledge and skills necessary to thrive in a world increasingly influenced by AI, which he mentioned a high demand for it in healthcare, finance, manufacturing and education.
“After joining Murray this summer, I noticed there is also a growing local need for AI knowledge and skills to address regional challenges and opportunities,” Zhang said. “Moreover, we already have a strong structure of computer science-related courses, making this the right time to introduce an AI minor to expand and enhance our curriculum.”
