Dedicated students, distinguished colleagues and dear friends,

Happy Friday!

Disruption, as often explained, comes amid long periods of stability. Technological innovations, perhaps starting with the invention of the wheel, have caused profound disruptions and discomfort for established industries and ways of life. Needless to say, “disruptive innovation” will continue to break established patterns for as long as there are thinkers and tinkerers.

Think of the light bulb, the calculator, the cellphone, the automobile, the airplane and the massive disruption they all caused when introduced. Consider the dawn of the automobile, for example. Between the time when Carl Benz patented the first internal combustion engine in 1886 and Frank Duryea drove the first American car in Connecticut in 1893, until the Model T was introduced in 1908, the entire American economy was disrupted in ways unimaginable a decade earlier. The transition from “horse economy” to automobile and later air travel, the "new" disruptive industries brought about numerous advantages that none of us are willing to trade in reverse. Yet, the fear of change was talked about for decades. 

Fast forward to AI and imagine for a moment the transformation that AI can bring about in a mere 10 years. This, of course, requires us to envision a world different than the one we have adopted and like. To consider the potential change, think of life before and after the web, social media and digital computation and communication. The question, however, is how do we learn and adopt the AI life? AI integrated health care, manufacturing, engineering, customer service, education and learning to name a few?

Here at S&T, we are leading the way in integration of AI in STEMM curricula in many ways. The latest is our newly developed master’s degree program in applied artificial intelligence – AI + X! Structured as a hybrid of AI courses offered by our computer science department and up to four elective courses related to applied AI in a STEMM discipline. Examples include aerospace engineering, chemical engineering, civil engineering, mechanical engineering, systems engineering, biology, math and physics, among S&T’s many STEMM-focused areas.

As generative AI continues to evolve, it can either be thought of as a source of existential crises or as the most timely “assistance” that affects our memory and critical thinking in the age of unimaginable amounts of data and information. We here at S&T are betting on the latter and evolving our programs to ensure an AI prompt engineering and science education. Our curricula evolution is aimed at better understanding data and AI, understanding risk and responsible use of AI-generated work, and developing human-centric AI tools and practices.

Our new, deliberate, thoughtful degree programs are designed to prepare our students and industry partners to adapt and become masters of working with AI. Masters of the tool and the process. It is then that we will realize that, in the words of our own Dr. Greg Edwards, "The biggest barrier to AI adoption in the business world isn’t tech – it’s user confidence.”

In the end, we must put our fears aside and embrace the upcoming, inevitable advancements with curiosity, excitement and innovation. Only to then wonder, how did we ever manage without this profound and powerful tool in our toolbox. Sounds familiar!?

Warmly,

-Mo.

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Mohammad Dehghani, PhD
Chancellor
mo@mst.edu | 573-341-4116

206 Parker Hall, 300 West 13th Street, Rolla, MO 65409-0910
chancellor.mst.edu