AI and Society Certificate
AI and Society Certificate
Understand, use and critically engage with artificial intelligence
The 9-credit AI and Society Certificate is designed for University of Delaware students across all majors. No coding background is required.
Through interdisciplinary coursework, students learn to understand and use artificial intelligence while examining its influence within their own fields. The certificate emphasizes critical thinking, ethical engagement and responsible, creative and humane approaches to AI.
Why earn an AI and Society Certificate?
Students in the certificate program can:
- Create projects connected to their majors, minors or academic interests.
- Build portfolios for employers, internships and graduate school.
- Explore ethical issues involving bias, extraction, labor and environmental impact.
- Learn how AI can support rather than replace critical thinking.
- Help shape the future of AI in responsible, creative and humane ways.
The certificate is designed for students from nontechnical fields as well as those who already have experience with AI.
Who is eligible?
The certificate is open to students in all majors. No coding or technical background is required.
Featured Courses
AI Governance and Policy
POSC 371
What is—and is not—artificial intelligence? What are its promises and perils? How are countries working to realize AI’s benefits while preventing harm?
Students examine how AI has developed, its potential effects on health care and work and concerns such as algorithmic bias and social harm. The course concludes with a simulation in which students represent different countries working to create an international framework for governing AI.
Philosophy of Mind
PHIL 330
This upper-level philosophy course examines central questions about the mind, consciousness and the relationship between the mind and body. Students consider theories such as dualism, behaviorism, identity theory and functionalism.
The course also explores whether artificial intelligence can be conscious, whether machines can think and whether a smartphone could be considered an extension of the mind. Students strengthen their critical thinking, argumentation and communication skills.
AI and Humanism
ENGL 480
Students examine how writers imagine the future to better understand the present. Through dystopian literature, the course explores technology’s influence on individuals and societies as well as the effects of digital distraction, disinformation and generative AI on cognition and civil society.
Prerequisites: ENGL 110 and six credits at the 300 level or above.
Certificate requirements
Students complete nine credits across three course groups.
Group 1 -
AI Fundamentals
Students begin with AI Fundamentals, the required introductory course.
LLCU 240: AI Fundamentals
3 credits
Students develop critical AI literacy, produce a portfolio of applied work and gain confidence navigating an AI-driven future. The course introduces large language models, image generators and other widely used AI tools. Students learn how these tools work and how to use them effectively in creative, academic and professional settings.
No prerequisites are required, and the course is open to students in all disciplines.
Fall 2026 schedule: Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 10:20–11:15 a.m.
Group 2 -
AI in Context
Students choose one approved course examining AI within its social, cultural, political, economic or ethical context.
- CGSC 170: Introduction to Cognitive Science
- CISC 355: Computers, Ethics and Society
- CISC 356: Intellectual Property in the Digital Age
- COMM 300: Special Topics in Communication, when the topic is AI
- COMM 306: Technology in Politics and Society
- ECON 370: Economics of Artificial Intelligence
- ENGL 368: Studies in Literature and Science, when the topic is AI
- ENGL 374: Rhetoric and Composition, when the topic is AI
- ENGL 480: Literary Studies Seminar, when the topic is AI
- MUSC 234: Music, Critical Listening, Creativity and Artificial Intelligence
- PHIL 330: Philosophy of Mind
- PHIL 455: Ethics in Data Science and Artificial Intelligence
- PHIL 490: Philosophy of Language
- POSC 371: AI Governance and Policy
Group 3 -
AI in Your Discipline
Students choose one approved course connected to their major, field or academic interests.
- ART/ENTR 411: Artificial Intelligence as a Creative Tool
- CISC 356: Intellectual Property in the Digital Age
- CPEG 457: Search and Data Mining
- ECON 626: Generative AI for Data Visualization
- ELEG 305: Signals and Systems
- ELEG 381: Artificial Intelligence for Engineering
- ELEG 397: Intelligent Systems Design
- LLCU 463: Internship for AI and the Humanities
- HOSP 448: Data Analytics in the Hospitality Industry
- MEEG 446: Digital Technology for Agriculture and Natural Resources
- PHIL 330: Philosophy of Mind
- PHIL 455: Ethics in Data Science and Artificial Intelligence
- PHIL 490: Philosophy of Language
