ALBANY, N.Y (NEWS10) — In efforts to implement elements of artificial intelligence (AI) teachings and research, UAlbany will add 27 new faculty members specializing in AI in the coming months. AI is increasingly touching every piece of life allowing universities to prepare their students for an advanced technology life.

UAlbany explains the 27 new hires are among 49 new faculty members expected to join next year and will help lay the foundation for the University’s new AI academy. The academy will entail new coursework that integrates foundational and applied teaching about AI across every UAlbany school and college, helping educate the next generation of AI thinkers and practitioners through courses available to all students regardless of major.

UAlbany reports the academy is a central pillar of its recently announced $200 million Albany Artificial Intelligence Supercomputing Initiative, or Albany AI, which received a major $75 million infusion of state funding in April. “This is a transformational moment in the life of the University at Albany,” said UAlbany President Havidán Rodríguez. “The ability to hire so many of the brightest minds at one time across so many disciplines, at the exact moment we’re launching Albany AI, is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. We are determined to make the Capital Region and New York an epicenter of next-generation artificial intelligence research — and to make UAlbany a national model for teaching AI across disciplines, from STEM to art history, political science, education, and philosophy.”