AI at Penn State
AI at Penn State is AI with purpose. It’s how education, research, public and private investment come together to help Pennsylvania thrive in a rapidly changing world.
Artificial intelligence is reshaping how we learn, work, and solve problems. Penn State is preparing our students for that future by building knowledge, expanding access, strengthening research, and empowering every community.
AI at Scale
1,100+
Faculty and staff in an AI community of practice.
Among the first to offer a degree in AI engineering
60+
AI research projects showcased at AI Week 2025.
Four major AI research centers
New AI Center of Excellence
Thousands in prize money for AI Challenge winners
Advancing AI at Penn State
Hear from Provost Sotiropoulos as he discusses the university’s strategic direction in AI and the commitments that will support students, faculty, and communities across the Commonwealth.
Watch: Penn State's AI Transformation
Vision
Penn State stands at a pivotal moment in its history—and in the history of higher education. As one of the world’s leading land-grant research universities, we were built to serve the Commonwealth in times of transformation. This is one of those moments. In the age of artificial intelligence, Penn State will define what it means to be a world-class land-grant institution—advancing human-centered innovation, ethical leadership, and lifelong learning. Through integrated excellence in research, education, and real-world impact, and by forging strategic partnerships across industry and society, Penn State will reimagine higher education and ensure that Pennsylvania leads the nation into the AI-powered future of work.
Goals
Transform Teaching, Learning & Assessment: Reimagine pedagogy for the AI era by redesigning teaching, assessment, and academic integrity frameworks, supported by a Center of Excellence for AI in Education.
Experiential & Innovation-Driven Education: Empower students through hands-on, AI-enabled learning—including research, industry partnerships, entrepreneurship, and real-world problem solving—accessible across Penn State’s statewide ecosystem.
Ethical & Human-Centered AI Leadership: Graduate students grounded in ethical reasoning and societal understanding, and position Penn State as a national model for responsible, human-centered AI governance.
AI-Driven Research & Convergence: Lead nationally in AI-augmented research, accelerating discovery across disciplines and advancing convergence science.
Infrastructure, Ecosystem & Workforce Impact: Build a modern AI ecosystem—tools, secure infrastructure, data governance, and strategic partnerships—leveraging Penn State’s statewide footprint to power Pennsylvania’s AI-ready workforce and economy.
Preparing Penn State for the AI Era
What is AI Literacy?
AI Literacy means understanding how AI works, how and when to use it responsibly, and how to think critically about its impact in the classroom, the lab, the workplace, and the community at large.
AI Across Penn State
Penn State advances a human-centered vision for AI with student learning and literacy, employee skill-building, and research innovation central to the University-wide approach.
Penn State Abington students were tasked by their professor with a hands-on opportunity to redesign their research seminar course with AI at the center of their workflow. The students used AI across every stage of their research process—learning with AI, not letting AI think for them.
Penn State Extension unveiled a new AI-powered tool, Tilva, which aims to give Pennsylvania farmers, industry professionals, educators, and others 24/7 access to trusted answers. The free tool delivers guidance drawn from Extension’s vast, science-based resources to help users quickly access reliable information about agriculture, food, the environment, and other topics.
Digital Media Trends and Analytics is Penn State’s largest minor offering, as students pursue AI-era skills. Since 2017, the minor has graduated over 1,400 students from 71 different majors across the university. There are currently 548 students enrolled.
The Penn State Smeal Center for Supply Chain Research recently hosted its inaugural AI Special Interest Collective event, bringing together 40 business leaders and academics to explore AI applications in supply chain management. Smeal will be using this event, and others like it, to bridge theoretical advancements with practical industry applications.
The Penn State Smeal College of Business is undertaking a comprehensive, college-wide AI initiative designed to better integrate AI across its teaching, research and operations — ensuring students, faculty and staff are equipped to lead responsibly in an AI-driven economy.
Two undergraduate students at the Economic Research Institute of Erie (ERIE), an outreach center at Penn State Behrend’s Black School of Business, launched an AI consulting firm after meeting during their coursework. The newly-launched Bond-Rand Technologies helps organizations integrate AI in ways that boost efficiency with minimal disruption to the workforce.
Sixteen Penn State faculty were named leaders for AI-Aware Instruction by the Schreyer Institute for Teaching Excellence. The leaders are tasked with implementing AI-aware instructional projects and advancing teaching excellence in the age of AI by identifying emerging needs, developing resources and sharing insights with other faculty leaders.
Investing in Operational Foundations
Penn State’s AI Transformation will include initial investment and educational commitments such as:
Launching a comprehensive AI literacy framework and learning modules.
Recruiting and hiring new AI-focused faculty members, including an interdisciplinary cluster hire.
Offering new enterprise-wide AI tools to support research, academic, and administrative needs.
Investing in new AI research resources, high-performance computing capacity, interdisciplinary labs, and experiential learning.
Establishing centralized AI leadership with the hiring of a new Vice Provost for AI.
Sharing guidance to help individuals navigate specific ethical dilemmas in the use of AI.
Launching a new AI Center of Excellence.