Universities Race To Equip Business Students With AI Skills

Jobs requiring Artificial Intelligence (AI) skills are expected to dominate the workforce in the coming years, and to properly prepare students many universities across the U.S. have been updating curricula to include courses on the subject. 

One of these schools is Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, which plans on incorporating AI in the curriculum across all its programs. Wharton’s Vice Dean Eric Bradlow told Technic.ly that starting this fall semester every student at Wharton will gain exposure to AI in some capacity. 

The ambitious plan for allowing students to get accustomed to AI is part of the broader Wharton AI and Analytics Initiative. A major part of this initiative is a strategic partnership with OpenAI, which provides ChatGPT enterprise licenses to the school’s MBA students. The program is specifically designed for students to use advanced AI tools to aid them in various business tasks performed by professionals across different fields — including data summarization, code writing, and the development of chatbots.  

Other schools including Columbia, Duke and American University are also moving quickly to integrate AI instruction throughout their core MBA and undergraduate coursework. American University’s Kogod School of Business, for example, is integrating AI into 20 classes this year, spanning in subjects from accounting to marketing classes.   

Educational institutions appear to have recognized changing workforce needs and are attempting to develop a stronger value proposition for potential students. Data shows Gen Z’s increasing attraction to skilled trades over jobs that require a degree — due in large part to the poor employment outlook for entry level positions for college graduates in the job market. Since 2011, college enrollment has decreased at a rate of about 1.5% every year, according to data from The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). 

Some programs are attempting to merge skilled trades into the curriculum by teaching directly applicable workforce skills. Technic.ly reports that in Wharton’s case, in addition to classroom learning, the school’s AI initiative emphasizes hands-on experience through experiential learning opportunities with companies, hack-AI-thons, short courses, certificate programs, and job fairs.  

Other Philadelphia-area institutions are also reported to be embracing AI course work as well. Temple University’s Global Institute for Artificial Intelligence and Business Analytics and Drexel University’s Center for Applied AI and Business Analytics are adding AI and data science into their business curricula. 

In such a competitive labor market, influenced by high interest rates and workers’ increasing desires for stability and work-life balance, AI is expected to play a pivotal role in career choices.