Many UMBC undergraduate students interested in AI have benefited from the free programs offered by non-profit AI4ALL. Their current online AI4ALL Ignite program is a comprehensive, no-cost virtual accelerator that prepares undergrads, especially those from historically excluded backgrounds, for successful careers in AI and machine learning. Through a combination of mentorship, hands-on projects, and career readiness training, participants gain the skills and connections necessary to thrive in the AI industry.

You can apply to the AI4ALL Ignite Fall 2025 cohort here by August 11. Admitted students will join over 800 participants from around the country in 2025 and get hands-on training to excel in their technical interviews and a launchpad to start a career in AI.  Students can find out about upcoming online information sessions here.

UMBC Information Systems professor Yasmine Kotturi was one of the researchers selected in the Computing Research Association’s (CRA) new Trustworthy AI Research fellowship program which is sponsored by Microsoft. This new fellowship supports computing researchers with interdisciplinary training in the social sciences who are working to integrate ethical, societal, and human-centered considerations into the development of AI.

Over the coming year, the fellows will engage in interdisciplinary training and collaboration, contribute to the development of a national Trustworthy AI lexicon and framework, and help lead initiatives at CRA partner institutions.

Professor Kotturi designs and builds sociotechnical systems that support worker resilience, especially among those navigating precarious employment and entrepreneurship. Her work combines human-computer interaction with insights from labor studies and feminist theory to develop relational, community-driven approaches—such as community-based software engineering—that shift power in how AI systems are developed and used.

UMBC Professor Eric Millikin’s film The Dance of the Nain Rouge has been selected for presentation at the Bali International AI Film Festival. The video, soundtrack, and voiceover were all created with custom artificial intelligence systems, programmed and trained on a hacked-up second-hand MacBook laptop to minimize environmental destruction and maximize class warfare. You can watch a short trailer here.

The film is based on the legend of the Nain Rouge (“Red Dwarf") of Detroit. According to folklore and urban legend, it is a shape-shifting native being who was brutally attacked by xenophobic colonists and has since been seen dancing as an omen of successful rebellions by the oppressed--reportedly manifesting before events such as the victory of Chief Pontiac at the Battle of Bloody Run in 1763 and the 1967 Detroit Rebellion.

Digital Journal published an article on the work of UMBC Alumna and current MS student Somya Singh and her work on developing AI-powered deepfake detection, especially for videos and audio, and their associated metadata. She was also recently featured in an article on Digital Watch. At UMBC, Somya received a BS in Information Systems in 2021 and returned in the Fall of 2024 to pursue a MS in Information Systems with a focus on ​​AI, Data Science, and UX/UI Design.