A Close Look at the Mount's New Artificial Intelligence Major

The renovation of the Japanese Garden between the Seton Center and Science Building is finished, offering a convenient cut-through and another convenient space to sit outside. The basement of the Seton building boasts a spectacular new space; the newly-opened Seton Commons offers study rooms, a communal gathering space, a much-anticipated ice maker, and a kitchen area.

Just down the hall, the new "Den" game room is open, sporting booths, an arcade machine, giant TVs, and new billiards and ping pong tables. Go up a floor and step outside into the quad, and one is greeted by the firepit ringed by plush chairs perfect to recline in and spend time with the people that make MSJ special.

These changes create an air of eagerness and revitalization accompanying the new school year, as the Mount Community welcomes the class of 2030 to campus. But these were not the only notable announcements this summer.

As Isaballa Piro's article in the "Vatican News explains, this summer Pope Leo XIV published his first papal encyclical, entitled "Magnifia humanitas: On Safeguarding the Human Person in the Time of Artificial Intelligence." The document marks the 135^th anniversary of Pope Leo XIII's "Rerum novarum," which helped establish modern Catholic social teaching-teachings echoed in the mission of the Mount.

Pope Leo XIV emphasized the necessity of a cautious approach to AI development and use, one that does not undermine human dignity or damage Creation. The pope argued that the development of current AI technology is presently motivated by a desire for efficiency and profit-not the common good. This disconnect is concerning. Elaborating, he writes "While AI promises to boost productivity by taking over mundane tasks, it frequently forces workers to adapt to the speed and demands of machines, rather than machines being designed to support those who work."

Pope Leo asserts that AI must serve humanity's end, warning that the technological challenges of the modern world-including the breakneck developments in artificial intelligence technology over the last few years-are akin to the creation of a new Tower of Babel.

While not all types of artificial intelligence are interrogated in "Magnifica humanitas," Pope Leo still asserts that "technology is never neutral, because it takes on the characteristics of those who devise, finance, regulate, and use it." Leo notes that AI is not fundamentally bad, but that there must be a shift so it serves humanity and the common good.

Another announcement came this summer from within the Mount Community; Mount St. Joseph unveiled a new bachelors' program through the School of Arts & Sciences-in Artificial Intelligence.

I wanted to learn more about this program and how it intends to prepare students to approach AI critically and ethically.

I sat in on one course in the AI major curriculum: Practical AI and Computers. The instructor, Noah Douglas, explained to me the benefits of the program; the curriculum actively teaches students about the strengths and weaknesses of the technology while preparing students to adapt to their future careers. Many employers are especially interested in AI, so teaching students about the field of artificial intelligence helps to prepare students professionally.

In the AI major, students obtain an educational foundation that allows them to adapt AI to a variety of uses in their careers; students understand how to utilize AI agents, contribute to the development or training of AI models, and use AI tools to increase efficiency with tasks. For students who understand AI, many professional avenues open.

Dr. Rebecca Allen, Chair of Computer Science and Mathematics, expanded on this. She indicated how the program "prepares students to have the scientific and mathematical background needed to apply artificial intelligence to areas like medicine and engineering," for example. She also pointed out that Large Language Models (LLMs) are only one of many aspects of the AI major.

Another unique benefit of the Artificial Intelligence major is that all students involved who are residents of Ohio qualify for an annual scholarship. The State of Ohio sponsors a program that awards an $8,000 scholarship to students from Ohio in the AI major, called the Choose Ohio First scholarship. This initiative reflects the growing relevance of AI in our society and economy. To learn more visit https://www.msj.edu/academics/majors-minors-and-programs/ArtificialIntelligence-July-2026-most-updated.pdf.

Like all courses of study at MSJ, the bachelors in Artificial Intelligence fits into the larger liberal arts curriculum; all Mount students obtain a background in diverse topics of study.

The core curriculum includes literature, ethics, philosophy, art, music, religion, math, science, and more. The liberal arts core provides additional context to the major-specific courses students studying AI take. Each class informs the others, providing a student with an interdisciplinary perspective. This is one benefit of a liberal arts education.

The AI major coursework develops students' knowledge before studying complex AI models in depth, Douglas explains. Building on the core curriculum, students study math, programming, data, databases, and more. These courses provide a foundation for understanding deeply the Artificial Intelligence tools that students engage with-as well as the limitations of such tools. Other classes in the program include courses on Python programming, research, statistics, calculus, web design, and applied AI. Every course is human-centered.

A human-centered approach certainly acknowledges some concerns Pope Leo presented in his encyclical. Still, many criticisms of AI exist, especially regarding LLMs and Generative AI. However, it is beyond the scope or intention of this article to address every concern related to the current applications of AI. One prominent concern regards how some AI technologies (and their accompanying datacenters) have significant environmental effects, using an unsustainable amount of water and electricity. Another criticism includes Generative AI's sharing of misinformation or hallucinated information in response to user prompts.

Appropriately, guarding against misinformation produced by Generative AI tools is addressed in the curriculum of the AI major. In Practical AI and Computers, for example, Douglas shares that "we value identifying these tendencies for hallucination and misinformation early because learners must acknowledge these weaknesses in order to use it effectively as a tool... these flaws present a remarkable chance for instructional design that handles AI's strengths and weaknesses by intentionally forcing students to wrestle with verifying confidently made claims, fact-checking information, and thinking critically to explain their reasoning."

It is understandable that there is a focus on teaching students to use AI critically. Allen adds that "[a]ll sciences have limitations and should be applied with care and thoughtfulness. Computer science is no exception."

In his class, Douglas emphasized that students develop their critical thinking skills and learn to refine their judgement while using AI tools. Douglas ties in current events regarding AI, discussing both positive examples and negative ones.

"While we are fairly critical of AI and address the challenges and limitations of it," Douglas says, "we also spend time talking about how AI is being used to detect floods and save lives, invent new materials and engines, assist with identifying cancer, [and] discovering new medicine." Students practice analyzing the strengths and limitations of the technology. The whole program strives for the ethical use of AI.

Douglas also mentions that not all AI systems necessarily have the same environmental impact. He notes that all technology has a cost, and AI provides many benefits too (consider again the potential advantages to a student's future career). For example, AI has been applied to "increasing accessibility, reducing traffic congestion, optimizing resource allocation."

Mount St. Joseph has responded to the changing needs of the modern workplace and adapted to the developments in modern technology by instituting an Artificial Intelligence major. As controversial as some AI technology rightfully is, the program openly acknowledges the limitations of AI technology and discusses what ethical use of AI might mean. Mount students learn practical skills in-demand with employers and applicable to many fields-while acknowledging the responsibility accompanying this topic of study.

Pope Leo warned about AI and a second Tower of Babel. The Mount is now making intentional efforts to teach the same technology while admitting its limitations-to accept the Promethean fire from Olympus, and not get burnt.

This article was not written with the use of any LLM or Generative AI. All ideas and positions expressed are uniquely my own.