In 2026, artificial intelligence (AI) became increasingly normalized, particularly in schools.
This has been evident at NKU. In Fall 2024, NKU became the first university in Kentucky to offer an Applied AI minor available to all students.
College of Informatics academic advisor Jennifer Ungerleider, co-creator and coordinator of the AI minor, realized that the increased use of ChatGPT and other generative AI tools created a great opportunity to make a minor centered on artificial intelligence.
“In this college, we’re thinking holistically about, okay, informatics and artificial intelligence are not just centered in one discipline, but they are multidisciplinary, transdisciplinary,” she said.
Ungerleider also works on finding more classes to add to the minor, so the course list is always growing. Right now, there are six officially approved minor electives. Students can choose two from the six. None of the options are within the College of Informatics (COI).
“This was intended to be for anyone, not just a student in the College of Informatics,” she said.
Ungerleider wasn’t alone in creating the minor; there was one faculty member representing the School of Media and Communication and one representing the School of Computing and Analytics.
The three of them communicated with both schools and the administration, including former COI Dean Kevin Kirby and the current Interim Dean Stephanie Klatzke, who were both excited about the program.
Klatzke is especially eager because AI is able to touch everybody at NKU. This will give students a chance to gain some form of a technical introduction to AI.
She said getting the minor “makes a nice companion piece to whatever your major might be.”
Another new course that’s been created is Implications of Artificial Intelligence, taught by Dr. Stephen Yungbluth. He already has quite a lot of experience in AI, with his sabbatical project centered on it.
“AI is everywhere, right? And it affects everything,” Yungbluth said. “AI is becoming used for everything or whatever; we’re finding that people are starting to use it in interpersonal contexts.”
The new course has been successful so far, bringing a different perspective to students.
Yungbluth understands that he has a different viewpoint compared to his students and will be talking about AI using that experience.
“I think that in our first two classes we’ve had some really promising discussions where we’ve got lots of people participating,” he said. “Lots of people have lots of ideas to share, and it shows that they’ve been thinking about this and are interested in learning more about it.”
There are seven total courses that are required; three of them are more STEM-heavy. There are prerequisites needed before beginning the minor.
“It does require some math, but it’s just polynomial functions or finite math or placement through a test score, and then basic statistics, and then really the deepest dive into it, where you start learning about machine learning, which provides really the basis for AI,” Ungerledier said.
The other four courses each focus on a different area: communication, philosophy, social science and ethics. So, any student who has little or no technical experience does not need to worry.
With this minor, students will be able to fully understand AI and how to use it. They can grasp the idea of where AI fits in our society, as well as the ethical and legal implications of using AI.
According to Ungerleider, more employers now are looking for people who not just know artificial intelligence, but know how to use generative AI tools. And, of course, understand that not all AI is good.
“Our students who go through this minor, they’re going to be able to speak more knowledgeably about what generative AI is,” Ungerleider said.
Computer science major Zakaria Gouiss said the minor has helped by teaching how AI is being used in computer science; for example, to help with homework assignments and to teach different concepts.
“Having the minor is good to get a better idea of the underlying tech behind it and how it works,” Gouiss said.
Electronic Media and Broadcasting student Justin Stokes has learned more about understanding how to properly use AI and how it can impact students and the environment.
Right now, he is learning about the mental impacts AI has on students by studying how younger generations are being introduced to AI earlier in their education, from K-12 through college.
“They’re losing some of those core skills that made it so AI wasn’t necessarily used as prevalently,” Stokes said.
Before AI became so heavily used, many students would study using websites like Quizlet. If students are going straight to AI, they may not know how to use it properly.
“They’re not building those core skills that are allowing them to question AI, which is what the class is primarily teaching us right now,” Stokes said.
AI-enabled Software Engineering major Aaron Milner chose to take the minor because of the ability to apply tools to his major.
“So it’s kind of cross-disciplinary, and it gave me a chance to go a little bit further into AI, but still focus on what my actual major is,” Milner said.
The minor also made it easier for Milner to write and work on technical documents.
“Before, I would have had to go through and manually do that process,” he said.
As AI continues to become a necessity for many employers, students who wish to grow their resume are advised to complete the minor or even just take a few classes.
“Whether you view AI as, like, Pandora’s box, whether you view [it] as a good thing, it’s not going away. So understanding how that’s going to change and staying ahead of the curve [is important],” Milner said.
