The University of Hawaii has launched a free online course designed to help students and nonstudents alike understand artificial intelligence and learn how to use the technology responsibly.

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“Artificial Intelligence for Hawai‘i” is a self-paced, 12-chapter course available to anyone, including people who are not affiliated with UH. The course covers AI fundamentals, ethics, education, the workplace and applications in industries such as tourism and agriculture.

The course was created in response to the growing use of AI in workplaces and daily life, but UH officials said they wanted the training to go beyond the generic tutorials available online.

“We really needed a basic AI literacy course for faculty, staff and students and for the Hawaii community,” said Gloria Niles, UH’s chief academic technology innovation officer.

The course incorporates local examples and references to Hawaiian values and culture, including kuleana, or responsibility, Niles said.

Each of the 12 chapters begins with a video connecting the topic to local events, people, businesses and issues. The course also highlights Hawaii residents and companies involved in the state’s growing AI industry.

The approach is intended to make AI more relatable to people in Hawaii while also addressing questions about how the technology should be used in the islands. One concern is how AI systems handle personal information and Indigenous knowledge.

“We’re primarily concerned with protecting personal information,” Niles said. “We’re also concerned that … Indigenous knowledge is represented accurately and that ‘olelo is represented accurately.”

UH has a Hawaiian Values and Cultures AI Task Force examining those issues, she said. The questions are not something the university considers resolved, according to Niles, and will continue to evolve as AI technology develops.

The course raises those concerns while introducing participants to the technology itself, she said.

The first three chapters cover the basics of AI and machine learning, including bias, fairness and transparency. Later chapters address responsible AI use, environmental impacts, education, academic integrity and organizational strategy. The final chapters focus on practical workplace skills, including advanced prompting and potential applications in Hawaii industries.

The course also comes as employers increasingly look for workers who have experience using AI.

Niles said employers are particularly interested in whether students can explain how they have used AI on a project, what skills they gained and how those skills could be applied in the workplace.

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But the growing use of AI has also raised concerns about job displacement, particularly for entry-level workers.

Niles said employers will need to strike a balance between training existing employees to incorporate AI and ensuring there are still pathways for people entering professions.

“The biggest risk is preparing current employees, up-skilling current employees who have the career knowledge and the institutional knowledge to incorporate AI,” she said.

At the same time, employers and educators need to consider what could happen if AI reduces the number of traditional entry-level positions, Niles added.

“If you don’t have humans coming into those entry- level positions, you won’t have the succession plan of people who advance in the career that have that knowledge,” she said.

Rather than simply eliminating entry-level jobs, Niles explained that some positions could change to incorporate AI and use the technology to augment employees’ work.

UH officials say the course is intended for a broad audience, including government workers, educators, small businesses, nonprofit organizations, students and community members.

The course does not require a UH login or affiliation. Participants are asked to provide an email address so UH can track how many people are taking the course.

The university plans to continue evaluating the course as AI technology changes. Niles said much of the foundational material, including responsible use and human skills, is unlikely to change rapidly, but new material will need to be added as AI advances.

The course was developed using existing UH resources, primarily through the allocation of staff time for its production and content development. Niles said no additional costs were incurred to develop or host the course, and UH did not partner with major large- language-model companies for its creation.

The course is part of UH’s broader OneAI Hub initiative, which includes AI training and programs aimed at expanding AI education and use across the university’s 10 campuses.

The free course is available through the UH OneAI Hub at https://aiforhi.hawaii.edu.

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