WATERVILLE — Thomas College announced Tuesday that it accepted a $3 million federal grant to build artificial intelligence into all academic programs.

The Title III Strengthening Institutions Grant signals the start of a multi-year project to teach practical, critical and ethical artificial intelligence literacy, according to a news release. The grant will fund multiple full-time positions, including an AI specialist in residence, and support professional development for faculty.

College President Jeannine Diddle Uzzi said the project is a key component of Thomas College’s strategic plan, which aims to make Thomas the “college of the future.”

Uzzi said Thomas will begin integrating AI across every program by preparing faculty to use the new technology effectively and ethically.

“AI is disrupting every field. So our accounting faculty have to be experts in how AI is being used in accounting … but the same thing is true for our English faculty, and for our political science faculty, and for our biology faculty,” Uzzi said. “Every faculty member in every field has a different challenge with AI.”

Uzzi said she knows students and faculty may be resistant to the idea of using AI. Maine’s public university system recently awarded a $1.39 million contract to OpenAI to get optional ChatGPT access for its students, staff and faculty, and colleges across the country are embracing the technology, although the response from students has been mixed.

“Student concerns about AI, whether they’re ethical, whether they’re environmental, they are to my mind valid,” Uzzi said. “The beauty of having an AI expert on campus is because that person will help us move from the fear and the myth to the reality. As in all things, knowledge is power.”

Thomas is hiring for three new positions. The specialist in residence will teach, run workshops and work with individual faculty members to help them learn and incorporate AI. That position will be paid up to $120,000 a year. A project manager will oversee the application of the grant, and will earn $65,000 a year.

The college will also hire an administrative specialist, but Uzzi said she doesn’t yet know whether that position will be full time or include student internships.

Garvan Donegan, president and CEO of the Central Maine Growth Council, said a major competitive federal grant like this will have a direct impact on central Maine businesses. Even one employee who knows how to use AI can change what a company can do, he said in the news release.

Uzzi said everyone has fears about AI, but she doesn’t want to let that stop Thomas College from embracing it.

“Unfortunately, AI is not going to stop developing just because we’re afraid,” she said. “What we have to do at Thomas College is put our students first. Someone my age has the luxury maybe of not using AI, but our students who have 30 and 40 year careers ahead of them will not.”

Uzzi said she hopes the grant will help distinguish Thomas College as an institution preparing its students for rapid technological development. The college is exploring the idea of a future AI management major to prepare students to manage the technology in future roles.

“We want to be on the cutting ede of preparing students to really thrive with AI,” Uzzi said. “Thomas College is thinking about the long future that our students will have long after many of us who are teaching and working at the college won’t be around.”