ATLANTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - The Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) is debuting an applied AI degree program this fall.
Students can now pursue a Bachelor of Design in applied AI, university officials announced Monday, the first day of classes for the fall semester.
The new degree program is designed for students to gain the skills "to imagine, prototype and direct how AI functions - and how people interact with it," the private art and design school, which has campuses in Atlanta and Savannah, said in a press release.
Coursework includes interaction design, computational thinking, storytelling, and systems modeling, "all essential for working with agentic technologies in creative industries."
The program also provides students with access to "real-world partnerships and professional studio work," enabling them to "craft intuitive experiences, shape and choreograph machine behavior, and design with intent."
To expand access to the "rapidly evolving field," SCAD is also offering a minor in applied AI, available to all students across majors -- "equipping creative professionals in every discipline with the tools to integrate intelligent systems into their future careers."
SCAD said the degree program will prepare students for jobs like:
"AI workflow is evolving at a tremendous speed, and it is imperative that all of our students are ready to employ these groundbreaking tools to enhance, not replace, their creative talent and succeed in their future careers," SuAnne Fu, dean of SCAD's School of Creative Technology, said in a statement.
In the press release, SCAD officials called the school a global leader in creative AI education. The release highlighted SCAD's research into applied AI and its annual summits, which bring together "top voices and powerhouses in business, entertainment, design, and tech," including Google, Meta, Adobe, Deloitte, ServiceNow, Gensler, Nvidia, and Netflix.
SCAD said those summits give students "a front-row seat to explore emergent trends and the future of intelligent systems -- connecting them directly with major employers in the AI space who are pioneering what's next."
"Since 1978, SCAD has consistently adopted technologies to ensure students have the tools necessary to launch their creative professions," Jason Fox, SCAD chief academic officer, said in a statement. "AI, an invention that augments and amplifies human productivity, is the next chapter in SCAD's legacy of curricular innovation, and our programs will continue to evolve, ensuring SCAD students are prepared with the advanced knowledge and skills necessary for the future of their creative professions.".