Exploring Artificial Intelligence in College
Artificial Intelligence is the future.
Claude Shannon, American mathematician, cryptographer, and electrical engineer known as “the father of information theory” famously said, “I visualize a time when we will be to robots what dogs are to humans, and I’m rooting for the machines.”
Furthermore, my friend, a Navy Seal who will remain nameless for identity protection, recently explained to me that it is an incredibly relevant topic to explore, prompting the creation of this journal inquiry.
Artificial intelligence is one of the most relevant and coveted spaces in the global marketplace, so as a USC student, I am on a journey to explore and learn more about USC AI resources and opportunities involving AI.
I am a computer science and business administration major with a strong background in the history of computing, and I have done preliminary research on AI along with research on USC AI opportunities.
Now, I will go over the specifics of my AI preliminary research along with helpful resources to explore.
Artificial intelligence is one of the most relevant and coveted spaces in the global marketplace, so as a USC student, I am on a journey to explore and learn more about USC AI resources and opportunities involving AI.
Intro to AI — What I Know
While I don’t know a lot, I do have certain resources that have helped me learn some basics. Here is the video my Navy Seal friend recommended:
This video is particularly interesting because it helped me understand the different sectors underneath AI so that I can make a better educated decision on what I’d like to focus on. However, I have not figured out what I find the most interesting as I have no experience in machine learning versus deep learning, etc. This is where I will enlist the help of my Navy Seal friend to ask what he thinks and do some additional research myself. I know that SecDevOps and DevSecOps are things that I’d like to learn more about because they deal with incorporating security into every step of the software development workflow.
DevSecOps/ SecDevOps and Other Research
In a recent survey of enterprise IT by 451 Research, “Voice of the Enterprise: AI & Machine Learning — Adoption, Drivers and Stakeholders,” it was revealed that security is the second most important reason for applying machine learning in enterprises. Intuitively, learning based on experience and then using that knowledge to inform future behavior when confronted with similar interests will work better than traditional passive approaches to security.
DevSecOps is the effort to marry DevOps and security on a single team focused on delivering new and secure applications faster. SecDevOps has the same principle, but in a different order. However, both work equally well. The use of DevSecOps is less popular than it should be, and it could be made popular with AI. AI software will dramatically decrease threat vector identification times and improve the efficiency of false positive identification, so developers will be able to hit deadlines and still create comprehensive security checks.¹
DevSecOps is the effort to marry DevOps and security on a single team focused on delivering new and secure applications faster.
As AI tech becomes more popular within DevSecOps processes, the shortage of cybersecurity experts will decrease as there will be more people who will become data scientists and security professionals who can train AI models on what to look for.² More people will begin to know computer science and data science and will have enough security expertise to differentiate good data from bad data.
Implementing AI early on in the development cycle seems to be the best place, so many believe that it is a perfect fit for DevSecOps.
With a little bit of AI and DevSecOps research, I feel that I am more knowledgeable in applications of AI and have a concrete understanding of why it’s important to learn.
AI in College With No AI Major
Artificial intelligence is a widely applicable technology that many fields could benefit from once the technology has become advanced enough. It is also a relatively new field, so many colleges(USC included) don’t have an undergraduate Artificial Intelligence major available. I have been confused on how to exactly get involved in this ground-breaking research and use my resources at USC.
Here’s a list of the research labs at USC that I’m currently exploring:
With a total of 34 labs to choose from, the abundance of choice coupled with my own ignorance is overwhelming. I am planning on reaching out to various professors, taking an introduction to AI class, and reading more on AI to see which labs I’d prefer to get involved with.
There are also many Coursera courses: Machine Learning, Deep Learning for Business and others that are extremely popular and helpful in introducing beginners like me to certain topics. However, I have found that personally, it is harder for me to learn and engage fully remotely with no accountability, so I’d prefer to take classes at my college and develop a relationship with my professor.
Finished? This Article Is, but My AI Research Isn’t
As I conclude, I have a few points I’d like to highlight.
I have a basic understanding of AI technology, am still working on clarifying what I don’t know, and have plans to engage in discussions with others to learn more. I believe that the more questions I ask and the more I learn, the higher a chance I will have of becoming very interested in a particular field to explore.
The increasing popularity of AI and ample offerings of online classes create a unique space to enter, and I’m excited to ride the wave of Artificial intelligence, especially at USC where there are world-renowned researchers. While Electrical Engineering and Computer Engineering was the space to be in the 80s and late 90s, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning is the space where innovation will occur this decade and decades to come within the private sectors where they aren’t slowed down by government restrictions(already being seen in SpaceX).
As a USC student, I am on a journey to explore and learn more about USC AI resources and opportunities involving AI. Artificial intelligence is impacting the future of virtually every industry and every human being and is a main driver of big data, robotics, IoT and many others.
It’s not too late to start learning like me, and I encourage you to explore the world of Artificial Intelligence and how the technology is being used in your field of expertise.
[1]: Feiman, Joseph. Three Ways AI Will Advance DevSecOps. 22 Jan. 2019, techbeacon.com/devops/3-ways-ai-will-advance-devsecops.
[2]: Columbus, Louis. “Top 20 Predictions Of How AI Is Going To Improve Cybersecurity In 2021.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 14 Dec. 2020, www.forbes.com/sites/louiscolumbus/2020/12/05/top-20-predictions-of-how-ai-is-going-to-improve-cybersecurity-in-2021/?sh=6ac001e219c1.
