Certificate in Artificial Intelligence

Unlike technical programs focused on building AI systems, this certificate is grounded in a liberal arts approach, equipping students to understand AI’s technical foundations, evaluate its societal implications, and respond to it effectively within their disciplinary and professional contexts.

The certificate requires students to complete three courses, selecting one from each of three domains. This structure ensures students can bridge technical and humanistic discourse, distinguishing between what AI can do and what institutions choose to do with it. The desired result is to produce informed citizens, ethical decision-makers, and critical analysts of their professions, prepared not only to use AI tools but also to shape AI’s role in society through inquiry, ethical reasoning, and service to the common good.

Curriculum

The 9-credit certificate consists of three courses, one from each of the following areas:

• The Problem of AI: the ethical, social, political, and humanistic dimensions of AI. This includes questions of governance and regulation, justice and fairness, power and accountability, and AI’s implications for human identity, creativity, and flourishing.
• The Science of AI: how AI systems actually work, including their technical foundations, capabilities, and limitations. Courses in this area can cover a range of technical topics, including mathematical and computational foundations, machine learning and data science, and how AI models connect to technological systems.
• The Applications of AI: the practical use of AI tools in disciplinary and professional contexts. This includes developing fluency with AI systems, learning to verify and evaluate outputs, making principled decisions about use and non-use, and integrating AI into workflows responsibly. 

While students are encouraged to draw connections between the certificate coursework and their major/minor curriculum — particularly through the “Applications of AI” requirement — doing so is not required. The certificate requirements may freely double-count toward major, minor, and core requirements as appropriate.

Courses will be tagged (via course attributes) as fulfilling one or more of the three areas, but a course may only fulfill one area of the Certificate at a time (students will choose how to apply such courses with the help of their Advising Dean). Students may begin completing coursework toward the certificate in Fall of 2026.

Student Eligibility

The Certificate in Artificial Intelligence is open only to students in the College of Arts & Sciences. If you would like to declare the Certificate in Artificial Intelligence, submit this form. Note that while seniors are eligible to enroll in the Certificate, completing all three courses in one year may not be possible.

If you have any questions about planning for the Certificate’s completion, please consult your Advising Dean.

For Instructors

Instructors from any department within the College of Arts & Sciences may propose their courses for inclusion in the curriculum of the Certificate in Artificial Intelligence by submitting this form. Note that, per the University Registrar, courses are generally not able to be tagged after a course is fully underway. The deadline for consideration of courses is at 5:00pm Eastern on the second Friday of each semester (the last day of the Add/Drop period).

For any questions related to the Certificate in Artificial Intelligence, please send an email to michael.parker@georgetown.edu.