Massachusetts Institute of Technology to Focus on Artificial Intelligence at New School of Computing

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) recently announced that thanks to a $315million grant, it will be establishing a new school of computing with strong focus on artificial intelligence (AI). The MIT Stephen A. Schwarzman College of Computing will cost a total $1billion, making it the single largest investment in computing and AI by an American academic institution. The school will serve as a hub for computer science, AI, data science, and related fields and strive to do the following:

• 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.

“As computing reshapes our world, MIT intends to help make sure it does so for the good of all,” says MIT President L. Rafael Reif. “...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.”