Bournemouth University (BU) hosted staff from the Office for Students (OfS), who met artificial intelligence (AI) Scholarship students on the MSc Human Centred Artificial Intelligence (HCAI) course.
The UK government-funded AI Scholarship, worth £10,000, has been created to increase diversity in the UK’s AI and data science sector. Recent research showed the tech sector has elements of underrepresentation when compared to the wider population, specifically in areas of gender and ethnic diversity. The scholarship has been created to bridge this gap, enabling students to retrain and gain skills in this growing industry, and to provide the UK tech sector with greater capabilities to harness the potential of AI.
During the visit, representatives from the OfS met with faculty members, administrators, and the scholarship students themselves. They had the opportunity to observe classes and interact with the students and the learning environment first-hand.
All BU students with the AI scholarship on the HCAI programme are non-white females - two key minority groups relevant to the scholarship eligibility. The programme is a conversion course, and therefore students from any discipline can apply. The students come from a wide range of professional backgrounds, including physiotherapy and marketing. Many students are there for a change of career, however, some are already employed, wishing to evolve and grow in their current role, and some are already business owners looking to grow their services. Many of them have no previous experience of computing.
Dr Vegard Engen, Deputy Head of Computing and Informatics at Bournemouth University, said, “Careers are no longer linear. We help people re-invent themselves professionally. Our Current students are all looking to up-skill themselves to either change their careers completely, or to develop themselves further within their current organisation. We believe this is essential in today’s climate, empowering people to change their career pathways in ways that were not feasible in the past.
“The scholarships help address the financial barrier that some may face. Our course design has addressed two other specific barriers we commonly hear; concerns over programming and the maths background that may be needed. These courses have been designed specifically to help upskill and support people from a diverse range of backgrounds.”
AI Scholarship student Fisayo Fagade said of the course, "Studying AI is effectively being part of a 21st century industrial revolution and not just about programming. The same way the internet changed how we shop, how we plan our holidays and how we work in our various jobs globally is the same way AI is changing virtually all aspects of how we work and how we play. I chose to study AI at Bournemouth University because of the high calibre of AI scientists and engineering experts coming together in the department. The scholarship has definitely made it easier for me to pursue this route."
Programme Leader Emili Balaguer-Ballester said, “I thoroughly enjoyed the discussions with the OfS colleagues and the exciting debate with students on the boundaries of the co-responsibility of humans and AI for decision-making in the ‘Explainable and Ethical AI’ unit. This debate is an example of the multidisciplinary approach followed in the Human-Centred AI master's programme, which provides fundamental tools to understand the transformative impact of AI in industry and society.”
Current Scholarship Student Ana Botelho said, “A.I. is already part of our everyday lives, and it will only get more entrenched. This is another reason I wanted to study MSc Human Centred A.I., to see how to deal with Artificial Intelligence and keep it safe and working for us. There´s a lot of media on the subject, by people who do not research well before publishing and creating fear as if it were a Hollywood movie.”
Kate Hazeldene, Access and Participation Manager at the OfS said, “It was encouraging to hear how the OfS’s scholarship funding has enabled students from a wide range of backgrounds to access these courses and the opportunity to pursue careers in AI and data science. It was great to find out more about the students’ views of the course and hear how their confidence in coding and analytical skills has grown to help them develop or reinvent their careers.”
The successful AI Scholarship scheme has been extended for another academic year (for September 2024 and January 2025 entry) and includes various courses in relation to Artificial Intelligence. Find our more about these courses on the Bournemouth University website.
