Transforming the Workforce Through AI Access for All
The University of Florida is becoming the leader in Artificial Intelligence (AI) Workforce Development with our AI-across-the-curriculum approach that infuses AI and data science into all academic endeavors. This investment in AI will transform Florida's workforce and economy to resonate globally and continue the university's rise into America's top-tier public university.
How UF will prepare students for the AI-enabled workforce:
- Prepare all students with AI tools in the curriculum
- Amplify research
- Industry partnerships
- Workforce development
How the Career Connections Center will prepare students for the AI-enabled workforce:
- Educate how AI impacts their career search
- Create opportunities for students to engage with AI employers
- Infuse AI education into all workshops
- Hire an AI Pathways Coach to help students thrive in an AI-enabled workforce
AI In Careers
AI is already at work all around us. Artificial Intelligence impacts everything from our internet search results, online dating, credit card application results, Netflix recommendations, and your Amazon shopping cart.
AI is a catchall term used to describe any systems in which a computer program can perform a task or solve a problem requiring the same reasoning a human would use. The difference between a basic computer program and AI is that AI can learn.
The critical thing to understand is that AI is not making our jobs obsolete. We still need human judgment. Human judgment isn't rigid, and we can respond to change quickly as humans.
However, AI has become a standard in all industries, not just technology. Those who work in something other than technology companies will find AI-enabled machines in our day-to-day activities. AI is one of our coworkers.
It is crucial to understand how AI transforms the employee experience.
Ways AI is changing the way we work:
Recruitment and onboarding
- Applicant Tracking Systems
- Chatbots
- AI-driven interviews
On-the-job training
- AI extracted lessons from our daily work experience that can be passed on to new hires.
- Real-time feedback from routine tasks.
Augmented workforce
- AI tools help monitor workflows and processes to make jobs more efficient
- AI tools to perform repetitive tasks.
Surveillance
- Digital data-gathering tools to monitor employee activities and performance
- Track the health of employees to improve the workforce
Workplace robots
- Robots used for deliveries
- Robots used for security monitoring
How is AI infused in Industries?
Artificial Intelligence is the ability of technology to imitate human cognitive skills. The level of interaction with AI varies with professions. As stated before, some people create AI, and others use it to complete tasks.
There are three types of Artificial Intelligence:
Assistive AI: Human performs all decision-making in a task
- Insurance Claims Processing: Technology automates a subset of claims to adjudicate
- Transportation: Cruise control automatically maintains a vehicle's speed
- Life Sciences: Health monitors track vital signs and identify risks
Augmenting AI: Both humans and AI perform the decision-making in a task
- Insurance Claims Processing: Clinical and utilization data help determine medical necessity
- Transportation: Lane detection systems use sensors to aid drivers
- Life Sciences: AI predicts adverse drug events that can be prevented.
Autonomous AI: AI performs all decision-making in a task.
- Insurance Claims Processing: The system pays/denies all claims in real-time based on patterns
- Transportation: Self-driving cars operate with sensors and software
- Life Sciences: An algorithm-powered bionic pancreas-regulated glucose
As you can see, humans are still needed to perform tasks. AI cannot master strategy, creativity, empathy-based social skills, and dexterity. AI requires human operators.
AI can be infused into careers in many ways. For example, artificial Intelligence is used in different industries to improve efficiency, remove repetitive tasks from the hands of a human, and find trends in data to improve outcomes.
Healthcare:
- AI-assisted robotic surgery
- Virtual nursing assistants
- Aid in clinical diagnosis
- Administrative tasks
- Image analysis
- Identification of infection patterns
Journalism:
- Automated writing to generate articles in seconds. The Washington Post, BBC, and Bloomberg use AI in public news articles.
- Spotting trends and bias helps journalists interpret incoming changes and speculate about the future.
- Personalized design for a reader's preference.
Finance:
- Machine learning to assign credit scores based on credit risk.
- Loan decisions are based on data analysis and using unsolvable data like education, rent payment, and internet browsing history.
- Algorithmic trading is used to reduce human errors, reduce payment delays, and examine market conditions. In 2020 60% of trades over $10 million were executed using algorithms.
Natural Resources:
- Predictive analysis from data to forecast emissions
- Data analysis to predict dangerous events such as fires and tsunamis
- AI facilitated planting sites, monitoring weeds and plant health, and more efficient harvesting.
Education:
- Personalization to adapt to each student's needs
- AI-assisted grading
- Interactive games that teach students basic skills
- Flagging plagiarism
Construction:
- AI-driven construction robots to perform a wide range of tasks
- AI wearable technology to assess safety and risks
- AI design tools to create 3D models of structures
Arts:
- AI is used to imitate an artist.
- Collaboration with humans to help create new sounds and visuals by combining sources
AI and the Job Search
What do Employers Want?
As an institution, we rally around these core competencies to develop our students:
- Career and Self Development, Communication, Critical Thinking, Equity and Inclusion, Leadership, Professionalism, Teamwork, Technology
Employers seek these competencies, no matter the industry, and the National Association of Colleges and Employers defines these. In preparing students for the AI-enabled workforce, we must address these dimensions across our work at the Career Connections Center and during any of their touchpoints at UF.
How do these competencies relate to Artificial Intelligence when considering AI and employer needs?
- How does communication intersect with AI?
- How is critical thinking still vital still with AI present?
How are we bridging the gap?
Artificial intelligence, or AI, is becoming increasingly intertwined in the job market, building skills in this area can give you a competitive advantage for a successful job search. The University of Florida’s Career Connections Center is dedicated to ensuring students are prepared with competencies to engage with AI by the time they graduate.
Read About Our IniativeHow Career Services and AI Education Intersect
Employer Engagement
Recruitment Consultations
We have had talks with Elutions, Cloudmed, and Vobile to discuss AI.
Artificial Intelligence and Computer and Information Science Engineering Fair
We host the AI and Computer and Information Science Engineering Career Fair each fall and spring semester during Career Showcase. This fair is specifically for companies hiring students and alums with experience in computer science, computer engineering, digital arts and sciences, data science, cybersecurity, and AI/machine learning.
Career Engagement Summit
The Career Engagement Summit is a drive-in conference that allows recruiters to interact, connect, and engage with the University of Florida community and fellow recruiters.
AI Central - Greater Gainesville Chamber Collaboration
We partnered with the Greater Gainesville Chamber to create an AI hub to establish North Central Florida as the national and global center for Artificial Intelligence and innovation.
Student Engagement
Artificial Intelligence and Computer and Information Science Engineering Fair
We host the AI and Computer and Information Science Engineering Career Fair each fall and spring semester during Career Showcase. This fair is specifically for companies hiring students and alums with experience in computer science, computer engineering, digital arts and sciences, data science, cybersecurity, and AI/machine learning.
UF Tech Fair
We partnered with UFIT to help students get expert help in LinkedIn, e-portfolios, and AI resume support.
AI Days - Career Connections Center Pop Up
The Career Connections hosted three pop-up events where students learned about careers in AI and how it intersects with their major.
AI Pathways Career Coach
The Assistant Director for AI Career Pathways serves as the career services liaison for the university's AI2 center and works to build relationships with faculty, staff, and industry to prepare students to thrive in an AI-enabled workforce. With a unique understanding of in-demand career competencies and industry trends, the Assistant Director for AI Career Pathways designs and delivers customized programming, services, and resources for students who want to leverage their experience with AI in a 21st-century workforce.
AI Workshops
AI and the Job Search workshops give students a better understanding of how companies use AI throughout their hiring practice. During these workshops, students learn how to prepare strong materials to move their application past the AI and into the hands of a recruiter.
All our programming includes AI education to remind students how AI impacts their job search.
Quinncia
Quinncia is an AI software designed to help students to prepare for the modern applicant environment before graduation. Quinncia reviews resumes and gives personalized feedback to help students master their interview skills.
Social Media Education
The Career Connections Center uses social media to expand its education programming. We have created content to educate students about Applicant
Faculty and Staff Engagement
Faculty and Staff Symposium
The 2022 Faculty and Staff Symposium's keynote speaker, Dr. Ivy Munoko presented "The Importance of AI Literacy for Students Entering the Workforce" Faculty and staff learned about the rapid growth in the global investment and adoption of AI.
UF offers staff and faculty the opportunity to earn a micro-credential in AI. The UF AI Foundation Courses provide key concepts and foundational knowledge for understanding Artificial Intelligence. After completing, the 15-hour foundation courses, those enrolled in the course select a focus area to earn their AI micro-credential.
Career Connections Center Staff
Onboarding Training Consists of Applicant Tracking Systems and AI training
The staff at the Career Connections Center are all equipped with the knowledge of how AI intersects career recruitment. With this training, workshops and career planning are infused with AI education.
Current Employers Recruiting at UF for AI Talent on Gator CareerLink
- Accenture
- Analysis Group
- Bank of America
- Batelle
- Booz Allen Hamilton
- CACI
- Capital One
- CarMax
- Ciana Corporation
- Cisco
- Citrix
- Comcast Cable - Central Division
- D.E. Shaw Research
- Deloitte
- Elutions
- Ernst & Young (EY)
- ESRI
- EY Service Deliver Center
- Facebook Machine Learning
- Gartner
- General Electric
- Georgia Tech Research Institute
- Honeywell Aerospace
- IBM
- Info Tech
- Intuitive Surgical
- Kellogg School of Management
- KPMG
- Liquid Payments
- L'Oreal USA
- Medtronic
- Mercury Systems
- Microsoft
- Midea Group
- National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
- Navy Federal Credit Union
- NBC Universal
- Nielsen
- Northrup Grumman
- Novateur Research Solutions
- Oak Ridge Insitute for Science and Education
- Oracle
- Otis Elevator Company
- PeopleTec
- Proctor and Gamble
- Schlumberger
- Securboration
- Shanghai University of Finance and Economics
- Siemens
- Southwest Research Institute
- SPAWAR Systems Cetner Atlantic
- SpinCore Technologies
- Spirit Airlines
- Splunk
- Texas Instruments
- University of Michigan
- University of Washington Department of Statistics
- Urbania
- VanEck
- Verizon
- Visa
- Wells Fargo
- World Fuel Services