{"id":24624,"date":"2026-06-17T18:56:21","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T18:56:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/2026\/06\/17\/tech-briefs-virginia-tech-adds-an-artificial-intelligence-minor-to-its-curriculum-cardinal-news\/"},"modified":"2026-06-17T18:56:21","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T18:56:21","slug":"tech-briefs-virginia-tech-adds-an-artificial-intelligence-minor-to-its-curriculum-cardinal-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/2026\/06\/17\/tech-briefs-virginia-tech-adds-an-artificial-intelligence-minor-to-its-curriculum-cardinal-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Tech Briefs: Virginia Tech adds an artificial intelligence minor to its curriculum &#8211; Cardinal News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cardinalnews.org\/\" rel=\"home\">Cardinal News<\/a><br \/> \t\t\t\t\tServing Southwest and Southside Virginia\t\t\t\t<br \/>Welcome to Tech Briefs, the latest in Cardinal News\u2019 weekly collection of items on the digital and life sciences landscapes. The roundup goes live on Wednesdays.    <br \/>Email me via <a href=\"mailto:tad@cardinalnews.org\">tad@cardinalnews.org<\/a> with tips, questions or suggestions. This week, I\u2019m curious about who is going to invest in the SpaceX initial public offering. Hit me up if you think the rocket will take you to Mars, or if you are predicting a premature explosion on the launch pad.    <br \/>Virginia Tech\u2019s new artificial intelligence minor is open to all students, to build AI skills and literacy they can apply to university work and, later, professional life.   <\/p>\n<aside>\n<div class=\"newspack-popup-container newspack-popup hidden   newspack-inline-popup  newspack-lightbox-no-border\" role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" style=\"background-color:#FFFFFF;color:#000\" id=\"id_152840\" data-segments=\"\" data-frequency=\"0,0,0,month\">\n<div class=\"_form_70\"><\/div>\n<p><script src=\"https:\/\/cardinalpress.activehosted.com\/f\/embed.php?id=70\" charset=\"utf-8\" defer><\/script> \t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p>Applications for the minor will open in August for all undergraduates, according to a university news release. Incoming students can add classes that don\u2019t require prerequisites to their schedules beginning this month.  <br \/>Christine Julien, who heads Virginia Tech\u2019s computer science department, says that today\u2019s students will enter a workforce where AI will be almost omnipresent.    <br \/>\u201cOur goal is to ensure Virginia Tech graduates understand how these technologies work, how to evaluate them critically, and how to apply them responsibly in their own fields,\u201d Julien said in the news release.    <br \/>Julien led a group from across the university community to build a program that worked for more than just computer science students. The group looked to students\u2019 needs to shape the program.    <br \/>\u201cI\u2019ve heard my administrative colleagues in the arts field frame it this way: Students need to worry less about losing their jobs to AI and worry more about losing their jobs to people who know how to use AI,\u201d said Jeffrey Loeffert, director of the School of Performing Arts and a working musician. \u201cThis aligns with what I hear frequently from our industry partners. They hire prospective employees who have a high degree of AI literacy and an ability to adapt as the tools and technologies change.\u201d    <br \/>The 18-credit-hour minor offers a technical foundation that includes programming, computational problem solving and artificial intelligence concepts in practice. Ethics courses are required and draw from computer science, philosophy and business. Interdisciplinary application modules offer curated pathways in the arts, social sciences and humanities.    <br \/>Classes include \u201cAI, Creativity, and the Art of Being Human,\u201d taught as an English class; \u201cThe Skeptic\u2019s Guide to AI,\u201d a philosophy course; \u201cAlgorithms and Society,\u201d a computer science\/science and technology studies offering; and \u201cData Governance, Privacy and Ethics,\u201d taught in business information technology    <br \/>Students may declare the minor through the College of Engineering beginning Aug. 3.    <br \/>Looking to get into the region\u2019s technology and life sciences marketplace? The Roanoke Blacksburg Technology Council can help you get started.    <br \/>The organization, RBTC for short, is offering twice-monthly Ecosystem Nativator sessions, with office hours on the second and fourth Tuesday of each month. The next virtual meetings are set for June 23, with an intro session you can access at a link on the <a href=\"https:\/\/member.rbtc.tech\/events\/ecosystem-navigator-office-hours-june-23\">RBTC website<\/a>. You\u2019ll e-meet Jess Edwards, Innovation Studio director for the new <a href=\"https:\/\/cardinalnews.org\/2026\/04\/16\/the-pulse-new-autism-therapy-clinic-biotech-hub-and-longtime-southwest-hospital-worker-honored\/\">RoVa Labs biotech incubator project<\/a>.    <br \/>The Innovation Studio provides startups with advanced prototyping tools, mentorship and resources to help move from bench research breakthroughs to the marketplace.   <\/p>\n<aside>\n<div class=\"newspack-popup-container newspack-popup hidden   newspack-inline-popup  newspack-lightbox-no-border     is-style-alternate\" role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" style=\"background-color:#FFFFFF;color:#000\" id=\"id_51614\" data-segments=\"\" data-frequency=\"0,0,0,month\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-6e81cd72 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\" style=\"padding-top:0;padding-bottom:0\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column has-background is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"background:linear-gradient(135deg,rgb(183,32,32) 0%,rgb(41,74,107) 100%);padding-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--50);padding-right:var(--wp--preset--spacing--60);padding-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--50);padding-left:var(--wp--preset--spacing--60);flex-basis:100%\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center has-white-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-251f810480d646e3bb6ae70444dad7aa\" id=\"h-you-can-help-us-stay-paywall-free\" style=\"padding-right:0;padding-left:0\">You can help us stay paywall-free!<\/h2>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/cardinalnews.org\/membership\/?utm_source=website&amp;utm_medium=inline_widget&amp;utm_campaign=inline%20donation&amp;utm_content=donation_image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"283\" height=\"436\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cardinalnews.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Screenshot-2026-06-02-161839.png?resize=283%2C436&amp;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-170401\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cardinalnews.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Screenshot-2026-06-02-161839.png?w=283&amp;ssl=1 283w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cardinalnews.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Screenshot-2026-06-02-161839.png?resize=768%2C1183&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cardinalnews.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Screenshot-2026-06-02-161839.png?resize=706%2C1087&amp;ssl=1 706w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cardinalnews.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Screenshot-2026-06-02-161839.png?w=370&amp;ssl=1 370w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cardinalnews.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Screenshot-2026-06-02-161839.png?w=400&amp;ssl=1 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 283px) 100vw, 283px\"><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t\t\tTad Dickens is technology reporter for Cardinal News. He previously worked for the Bristol Herald Courier&#8230;\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"author-link\" href=\"https:\/\/cardinalnews.org\/author\/tad-dickens\/\" rel=\"author\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMore by Tad Dickens\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a> \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/cardinalnews.org\/local-obituaries\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" class=\"wp-image-33811 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cardinalnews.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/CardinalNews_logo.png?resize=81%2C81&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"81\" height=\"81\" \/><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/cardinalnews.org\/local-obituaries\/\">View new obituaries<\/a> in real time from all across our region.<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/docs.google.com\/forms\/d\/e\/1FAIpQLSc6JpylL70cprADA47eJNMCJ0eO3_79Q45EbhC3UluEnsRa6w\/viewform?usp=sf_link\"><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" class=\"wp-image-70931\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cardinalnews.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/gracereggie.jpg?resize=206%2C113&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"206\" height=\"113\" \/><\/a><br \/>Do you have a story you think we should tell? 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The roundup goes live on Wednesdays. Email me via tad@cardinalnews.org with tips, questions or suggestions. This week, I\u2019m curious about who is going to invest in the SpaceX [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24625,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24624","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24624","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24624"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24624\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24625"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24624"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24624"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24624"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}