Google offers many free online short courses on AI-relevant topics. Here's a list you might explore over the holiday break.

• Introduction to Cloud Computing, Learn cloud basics and why they matter for AI

• Prompt Engineering in Vertex AI,  Learn to write better prompts and get more out of Gemini

• Google AI Essentials (Coursera),  Use AI for productivity, brainstorming, and writing

• What Is Generative AI?,  Beginner-friendly, no coding required

• Large Language Models Explained, Understand how models like ChatGPT actually work

• AI Principles in Google Cloud, How Google applies responsible AI in real products

• Programming Basics, Foundational coding and logical thinking

• Cloud Computing Foundations,, Cloud, big data, and machine learning — together.

• Responsible AI Practices, Build ethical, safe, and inclusive AI systems

• Upskill for the holidays, Links to additional courses relevant to AI

Generative AI for Graduate Students & Post Docs

Dr. Anupam Joshi, UMBC's Vice Provost and Chief AI Officer, will lead an interactive session to help graduate students and postdocs see how they can enhance their scholarly work with Google's Geminisystems. The session will give participants a chance to engage with the Gemini platform, experiment, and get help in overcoming obstacles to see what it can do.

Initial post had the wrong link:

Members of the UMBC community can register for the event here. 

In 2024, information systems Ph.D. student Ommo Clark penned an opinion piece for BusinessDay Nigeria exploring why many Nigerians diagnose and treat their medical conditions themselves, often turning to unreliable online information.

While the essay was inspired by firsthand experiences in her native country, the impulse to consult “Dr. Google” is a worrying global trend, Clark says, and one that has motivated her Ph.D. work. It’s unlikely that people will stop going online with health questions, so Clark is researching ways that AI could help patients, healthcare providers, public health officials, and content platforms better understand and evaluate the sea of medically related content on the Internet.

Ommo’s efforts were recently recognized when one of her research papers, co-authored with information systems professor Karuna Joshi, won the Best Student Paper Award at the IEEE International Conference on Digital Health 2025, held in July in Helsinki, Finland. The paper, titled “Real-Time Detection of Online Health Misinformation using an Integrated Knowledgegraph-LLM Approach,” describes the results of combining two types of AI approaches to tackle the problem of identifying online health misinformation.

Read more about their work in this UMBC News article.

AI4ALL Ignite offers a groundbreaking opportunity for undergraduate students interested in artificial intelligence. This no-cost, virtual AI career accelerator program is designed to prepare students to interview for technical AI internship positions.  As part of the accelerator, participants work on an AI portfolio project directly with AI industry professionals, present the portfolio to peers and industry professionals at an all-day virtual symposium, and cultivate and grow a network within AI. Apply online by January 22.

Students who participate in the Spring 2024 accelerator will be ready to interview for AI technical internship positions by September 2024.  

Key Highlights of AI4ALL Ignite:

• AI Portfolio Project: Students will have the unique opportunity to work on an AI project with peers, receiving mentorship and guidance from industry experts.

• Student Symposium: Participants can present their AI projects in a symposium, providing a platform to network with AI professionals.

• Career Readiness Training: The program includes extensive training focusing on career readiness and preparation for technical AI internship interviews.

• Mock Interviews and Networking: Students can enhance their skills through mock AI technical interviews and engage in networking opportunities with AI recruiters.

• AI Certificate of Completion: Students are awarded an AI4ALL Certificate of Completion at end of the accelerator.

Eligibility and Application Deadlines:

• AI4ALL welcomes all applicants but gives priority to students from historically underrepresented groups in AI, including Black, Hispanic and Latinx, Indigenous, women, gender-expansive, and non-binary individuls.

• Academic prerequisites are: Probability and Statistics; Linear Algebra; Pursuing a major/minor related to Computer Science and similar academic disciplines; and Basic programming skills in Python (e.g. CS1) or another coding language

• Apply online for the Spring 2024 Cohort by January 22, 2024.

• The Spring Ignite program starts in the week of January 29, 2024.