Artificial Intelligence in the Curriculum: Development and Implementation of a Professional Training Program to Promote Literacy Among Health Education College Majors

Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly reshaping many sectors of society, including healthcare and health education. While AI has long been embedded in engineering, computer science, and mathematics curricula, it has not yet been intentionally integrated in a meaningful way in other curricula like health education. The employment of health education specialists continues to increase rapidly, driven primarily to contain healthcare costs and improve health outcomes. Thus, the next generation of health education specialists must possess AI literacy as a minimum learning outcome and a level of competency that enables them to work effectively in the rapidly evolving AI-driven healthcare workforce. This paper discusses the design and implementation of an AI professional training course, “AI in Health Education and Health Promotion,” for health education majors at a major southeastern university in the United States that mandates integration of AI across the curriculum for all college majors. It also presents the course content, teaching methods, implementation strategies, student feedback, and lessons learned. At the end of the 2023 to 2024 academic year, 528 students completed the training. Pre-training qualitative responses suggested a basic understanding of AI but a limited understanding of its core principles and applications. Post-training responses showed excitement about AI’s potential to enhance health education practices, particularly in creating tailored messages. However, their responses also revealed concerns about the potential misuse of AI. This curriculum presents a model for other health education programs that seek to design their own AI training programs.