TAMPA, Fla. — The University of South Florida (USF) is working toward launching a college focused on artificial intelligence and cybersecurity.

What You Need To Know

  • USF is working toward launching AI and cybersecurity college by 2025 

  • AI is constantly changing and advancing and USF wants students to be prepared for the future 

  • AI can be found in everything from smartphones to Amazon's Alexa 

Dr. Sudeep Sarkar, chairman of Computer Science and Engineering at USF and also the co-director of USF’s The Institute for Artificial Intelligence + X, is helping to develop courses for the new college.

“Forming a college like this will basically give a map. It will provide a hub and a course structure for a lot of disciplinary programs,” said Sarkar.

He says that artificial intelligence has been around for decades, but that we now have the technology to truly implement it into our lives.

Student Stephen Steinle is working toward is his PhD in computer science. He says AI is already impacting our lives from the phones we use, refrigerators, to devices like Amazon’s Alexa.

“Even in 20 years, if you are not using the same principals as now, the applications will transform how we live our lives. It’s like saying, ‘Why are you studying automotive mechanics even though we aren’t using the same cars we used in the 60s? You can still work on a Tesla,’” Steinle said.

USF hopes to get the college up and running by the fall of 2025.