Artificial intelligence means different things to different people. It can be as simple as helping someone create a work e-mail to monitoring and stopping cyberattacks.

The University of Nebraska-Omaha believes so strongly in the ethical development and management of AI that it became one of the first colleges in the United States - and the first in Nebraska - to create an academic degree program that focuses on artificial intelligence.

As one of 36 universities to offer a bachelor's degree in artificial intelligence, UNO, which started the bachelor's program in 2025, joined the likes of Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh, Purdue University and the Ivy League's University of Pennsylvania.

Omaha has since created a master’s degree program in AI, in tandem with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

The growth of artificial intelligence across the world piqued school officials' interests almost seven years ago, said Martha Garcia-Murillo, dean of the College of Information Science and Technology.

"At that time, it was not pursued, because it wasn't believed that there was a market for it," Garcia-Murillo said. "But the reason why I think this is important is because back then, the department already had significant AI expertise, and that's what prompted us to propose it. Now, it was a natural progression for the department and, of course, the timing worked well to then get this degree off the ground."

With UNO all in on the artificial intelligence movement, school officials had to determine how to responsibly teach the data-driven academic discipline.

“That’s a huge thing, because AI is eventually an interdisciplinary career,” said Mahadevan Subramaniam, the department chair with the College of Information Science and Technology. “You apply AI in so many places, so you really have to be careful in terms of where you use AI, how we use AI.”

"There are several subdisciplines within AI. There are aspects that are very unique to AI, like ethics. Responsible use of AI is very important."

More than 30 students major in artificial intelligence studies, while 70 people are enrolled in AI-related classes.

"It's the fastest growth we have seen, at least that I have seen in the last 22 years here, in terms of any program, because it usually takes some time for the word to get out," Subramaniam said.

As a technical discipline, artificial intelligence, such as Symbolic AI, has been around for about 100 years, he said. Along with robotics, it's a key portion of the program’s foundation, Subramaniam said.

“Then there is generative AI, which is a new paradigm that has come along,” he said. “We also offer new ways of coding software development, so the student has skill sets both in computing discipline as well as how to use AI for process efficiencies in their jobs.”

As the AI degree program continues to grow, UNO officials seek to grow its use across other academic programs, including a generative AI minor, Subramaniam said. They'd also like to add AI to science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines, he said.

"Medical professionals are saying it would be nice for medical students to know AI before they come in," Subramaniam said.

While UNO focuses on its academic programs surrounding artificial intelligence, Chancellor Joanne Liu requires widespread use of AI on the campus.

Its use can be determined by individual colleges and departments, but UNO is looking to embed AI in all classes, Garcia-Murillo said.

"It's not about sitting in the classroom, listening to the lecture and then learn to do something with that," she said. "It is actually having AI as part of the curriculum in all our classes, so that we in higher education are introducing or using these technologies for teaching."

Artificial intelligence can enhance an art student's development, Garcia-Murillo said. Even psychology majors can use it as another tool in their skill set, she said.

"It's really for us to continue to partner with our other colleges to have those paths for students who are in different disciplines and want to enhance their degrees with AI," Garcia-Murillo said.

UNO has taken artificial intelligence a step further, creating a NASA-style control center to monitor cyberattacks on certain companies.

Staffed by interns, the center monitors signs of tampering or attempted hacks, said Matt Hale, director of the School of Interdisciplinary Informatics.

"Increasingly, we know that adversaries are employing AI techniques," Hale said. "They're using their own AIs and machine learning techniques to kind of upskill their own capabilities. It's easier than ever to generate a phishing attempt, to design malware, with AI that can help you."

Companies need cybersecurity experts to be able to counter those emerging and evolving threats, he said.

"MATRIX (Machine-learning AI and Threat Response Initiative) recognized the need to cross-skill, not just for cybersecurity, but in how we bring in machine learning and AI capabilities into that environment, as well as upskill people," Hale said.

UNO's analysts monitor everything from a company's computers to elevators, water treatment facilities, building control systems, heating and air conditioning systems, and pipe systems for anomalies that could signal a cyber threat, he said.

"You might take a website that you're operating, and it's got an identity management protection system," Hale said. "You've got maybe 100, 1000 or 10,000 daily users that are constantly logging into your system. And then maybe you begin to see that there are a lot of file uploads happening. And those file uploads are zip files. We don't usually see that level of zip file uploading. Why is that happening?"

An outside source, often China-based, may be attempting to infiltrate the systems, he said. If an attack is confirmed, analysts will contain the threat, Hale said.

UNO's MATRIX center may be situated in a learning environment, its interns are getting real-world experience, Hale said.

Along with a successful cybersecurity analyst program, the MATRIX center continues to help UNO solidify its spot among the best cyber programs in the United States, he said.

"In the past 10-12 years, we've really been able to distinguish ourselves nationally," Hale said.

Tim Trudell is a freelance writer and online content creator. His work has appeared in Flatwater Free Press, Next Avenue, Indian Country Today, Nebraska Life, Nebraska Magazine, Council Bluffs Daily Non-Pareil and Douglas County Post Gazette, among others. He is a citizen of the Santee Dakota Nation.