University of Mary Washington offers Intro to AI online course in summer 2025

As artificial intelligence (AI) impacts more and more of daily life, much of society remains unsure of how to use it.

So the University of Mary Washington will offer a free introductory one-credit course to understanding and applying AI in an effective and ethical way to life.

The course, “Introduction to AI,” will be available online in summer 2025 for new and returning UMW students and provide foundational knowledge about how AI works, how to integrate the use of AI into work and how to approach it with critical awareness.

UMW Professor of Communication Anand Rao designed the class and developed the materials for the course. Registration is available online.

“One of our responsibilities, and one I take very seriously, is preparing students not just for the classroom, but the world beyond it. This means we need to prepare them for an AI world by making sure they have a strong foundation in what AI is, how it works and how you start incorporating it into your work,” Rao said.

Only offered to incoming and current UMW students, the course will be asynchronously online so that students with varying summer schedules will have opportunities to participate over an eight-week period from June to July.

During a yearlong sabbatical, Rao, author of “Chat(GPT): Navigating the Impact of Generative AI Technologies on Educational Theory and Practice,” studied AI with research and conferences. He also met with experts in AI. Rao’s 2023 book was the No. 1 new release in the Top 10 of Educational Professional Development and in Curricula.

He led discussions on the topic at international conferences and in major publications, including Inside Higher Education and The Wall Street Journal. Rao edited a new book that will be published in fall 2025 about AI pluralism. The book outlines strategies to develop more explainable and aligned AI systems based on augmentation and debate.

In the fall, Rao will introduce “DGST 301N: AI and Society,” which will dive deeper into the implications of AI for different career paths and personal interests. Students will build their own chatbots, engage in discussions and debates and attend guest lectures by leading experts. The course will be offered in-person and online for UMW students, who will learn to harness AI tools, tackle ethical, creative and societal challenges through real-world projects, and develop practical skills to become informed AI leaders.