Dartmouth is launching and expanding a suite of programs across its schools that will prepare students to leverage the power of artificial intelligence while also learning to use it critically and ethically.
Building on the university’s legacy as the birthplace of AI and its longstanding strength in pairing technical rigor with human insight, the new offerings—in fields ranging from engineering to business to health care—emphasize the thoughtful use of powerful technologies to enhance distinctly human capabilities.
“AI is changing how knowledge is accessed, communicated, and applied—but universities have a responsibility to be equally clear about what it cannot do. At Dartmouth, the conversation isn’t simply about adopting new tools; it’s about ensuring those tools amplify human judgment rather than replace it,” says Provost Santiago Schnell.
“Our new courses and degree programs are designed to train future leaders who understand that what machines cannot provide—the capacity to navigate genuine uncertainty, to produce new knowledge, and to bear responsibility for truth—is precisely what a Dartmouth education must.”
Students interested in artificial intelligence will find new opportunities across Dartmouth schools, including:
- A new degree track and concentration that expand the growing portfolio of AI-focused education at the Thayer School of Engineering
- A move to include artificial intelligence throughout the curriculum at Tuck School of Business, including an array of new AI electives
- An integration of AI in the medical education curriculum at the Geisel School of Medicine
- Faculty in the Arts and Sciences continue to add to the roster of courses that teach the fundamentals and applications of AI while applying a critical lens to examine the technology and its impacts.
Two Tracks at Thayer
Dartmouth Engineering students can now choose an AI track within the Master of Engineering program and a new undergraduate concentration in AI within the bachelor of engineering degree.
Across both programs, students engage with topics such as machine learning, high-dimensional sensing, optimization, and reinforcement learning while gaining practical experience through hands-on, project-based courses. The new programs build on recent initiatives including an online master’s of engineering in computer engineering, which focuses on the hardware side of intelligent systems, and a certificate in practical machine learning.
“We are excited to introduce new opportunities for students to gain expertise and take on leadership roles in AI and related fields,” says Douglas Van Citters ’99, Thayer ’03, ’06, interim dean of Thayer. “And we are doing this the Dartmouth way—by teaching our students to ask critical questions and consider the human impact to ensure AI serves society in responsible and meaningful ways.”
At the Guarini School of Graduate and Advanced Studies, graduate students and postdoctoral scholars are also engaging with artificial intelligence through Guarini’s growing role in advanced research. In laboratories and research groups across campus, machine learning approaches are now routinely used to model protein folding, interpret large experimental datasets, and uncover patterns that would be impossible to detect by traditional methods alone.
Electives, and a Bridge, at Tuck
AI is integrated across the entire MBA curriculum at Tuck, to which the school has now added a host of new AI-focused electives including AI-Driven Analytics & Society, AI for Managers, NLP/Machine Learning in Finance, AI for the C-Suite, AI & Ethics, and Digital Operations.
“We are empowering students, faculty, and staff to use AI with confidence, agility, and judgment,” says Tuck Dean Matthew Slaughter. “As the world continues to evolve, we expect that AI will increase demand for the leadership capabilities that Tuck excels at creating.”
The Tuck Business Bridge Program, which serves undergraduates from Dartmouth and elsewhere, has also integrated AI training that helps students think critically about the technology and use it effectively in real-world contexts.
By combining the traditional strengths of liberal arts education with practical AI experience and a builder’s mindset, the program aims to prepare graduates to collaborate with AI, identify opportunities, and create value across industries.
AI is now included in Tuck’s Executive Education offerings as well.
Geisel Merges AI With Medical Education
Across health care, providers are adopting AI tools that can increase the accuracy, efficiency, and accessibility of patient care. By integrating AI in first- and second-year courses, Geisel is preparing students for the evolving landscape of clinical practice.
Courses cover the dangers of cognitive outsourcing, and critical appraisal and ethical use of AI tools.
AI is also being integrated into medical education in ways that emphasize its role in improving patient care.
New tools include an AI Patient Actor platform that allows students to practice clinical skills in simulated encounters and NeuroBot TA, a retrieval-augmented teaching assistant that supports learning in neuroscience and neurology, and ConsultCraft, a learning platform for clinical reasoning in care provided before, during, and after a surgical procedure.
Geisel is also expanding training through its Master of Science in Health Data Science program, which prepares students to apply advanced analytics and AI to real-world healthcare challenges.
Arts and Sciences Explores Impacts
Conversation about AI starts early for Dartmouth undergraduates. As part of the First-Year Seminars, for instance, students learn about how AI-generated text differs from their own writing and reading process, compare an AI summary of an assigned essay with their own, and assess the accuracy of the summary, flagging AI hallucinations and defending their choices aloud.
Foundational courses that teach the theory of machine learning and its application have been mainstays in the computer science and math departments, evolving to meet the rapid advances in the field.
And several arts and humanities courses allow interested students to imagine new ways to use AI and also explore the impact of the technology as it unfolds, examining biases baked into models and debating the ethics of AI.
Meanwhile, the 70th-anniversary celebration of the 1956 Summer Research Project on Artificial Intelligence will highlight human-centered AI, with events and initiatives throughout the year that will provide opportunities for students to network with experts at conferences at Dartmouth and outside.
