The Massachusetts Institute of Technology announced on Monday that it will open a $1 billion college “to address the global opportunities and challenges” presented by the rise of artificial intelligence.
The university says that it has two-thirds of the funding for the college already secured, with $350 million of that coming from Stephen Schwarzman, chief executive of the Blackstone Group. The college will be called the Stephen A. Schwarzman College of Computing and is slated to open in September 2019, with construction of the building to be completed in 2022.
In a statement, the university said the Stephen A. Schwarzman College of Computing “seeks to strengthen its position as a key international player in the responsible and ethical evolution of technologies that are poised to fundamentally transform society.”
“As computing reshapes our world, MIT intends to help make sure it does so for the good of all,” MIT President L. Rafael Reif said in a statement. “In keeping with the scope of this challenge, we are reshaping MIT. The MIT Schwarzman College of Computing will constitute both a global center for computing research and education, and an intellectual foundry for powerful new AI tools. Just as important, the College will equip students and researchers in any discipline to use computing and AI to advance their disciplines and vice-versa, as well as to think critically about the human impact of their work. With uncommon insight and generosity, Mr. Schwarzman is enabling a bold agenda that will lead to a better world. I am deeply grateful for his commitment to our shared vision.”
The college will serve “as an interdisciplinary hub for work in computer science, AI, data science, and related fields,” with a focus on these five initiatives:
- reorient MIT to bring the power of computing and AI to all fields of study at MIT, allowing the future of computing and AI to be shaped by insights from all other disciplines;
- create 50 new faculty positions that will be located both within the College and jointly with other departments across MIT — nearly doubling MIT’s academic capability in computing and AI;
- give MIT’s five schools a shared structure for collaborative education, research, and innovation in computing and AI;
- educate students in every discipline to responsibly use and develop AI and computing technologies to help make a better world; and
- transform education and research in public policy and ethical considerations relevant to computing and AI.
“There is no more important opportunity or challenge facing our nation than to responsibly harness the power of artificial intelligence so that we remain competitive globally and achieve breakthroughs that will improve our entire society,” Schwarzman said in a statement. “We face fundamental questions about how to ensure that technological advancements benefit all — especially those most vulnerable to the radical changes AI will inevitably bring to the nature of the workforce. MIT’s initiative will help America solve these challenges and continue to lead on computing and AI throughout the 21st century and beyond.”
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