Master AI, from building systems to real-world applications.

Cornell Bowers offers two online master's programs in artificial intelligence, each designed for anyone seeking to deepen their expertise in AI. Whether you want to build AI systems from the ground up or transform your profession by applying AI where it matters most, there's a path for your specific career goals.

  • The M.S. in Artificial Intelligence is for professionals who want to understand how AI works and build intelligent systems from first principles, with rigorous training in the mathematics, architectures, and evaluation methods that power modern AI. 
  • The M.S. in Applied Artificial Intelligence is designed for professionals who want to harness AI within an established field or industry, developing the skills to integrate AI into real-world practice, solve complex challenges, and drive innovation in their organizations.

Both programs pair academic rigor with meaningful faculty engagement, delivered in a flexible online format. Students work closely with Cornell faculty, customize their studies through specialized tracks, and participate in immersive residential experiences on campus that deepen learning and forge lasting connections with classmates and instructors. 

M.S. in AI

Overview: Build AI systems from first principles — the mathematics, the architectures, the evaluation

Who's it For: Primarily focused on coursework with a capstone project that advances students' placement in industry jobs

Academic Background: Basic programming, linear algebra, and statistics

Career Path: Software engineer, machine learning engineer, AI engineer

M.S. in Applied AI

Overview: Apply modern AI within your own professional field, and judge it well

Who's it For: Professionals in fields where AI is becoming essential: health, veterinary medicine, biology, agriculture, the natural and physical sciences, human resources, and more

Academic Background: None. No programming or mathematics prerequisites

Career Path: Forward-deployed engineer, product manager, clinical AI specialist, AI policy & governance specialist

Cornell - shaping what's next in AI since 1956.

woman with AI watch

#3 in Artificial Intelligence

Ranked #3 in AI among U.S. institutions, Cornell Bowers faculty continue to innovate in the field of AI, conducting award-winning research in areas such as human-AI interaction, robotics, cybersecurity, computational sustainability, and AI trust and accessibility. 

Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections Frank Rosenblatt ’50, Ph.D. ’56, works on the “electronic profile analyzing computer” – a precursor to the perceptron.

A founding force in AI

Cornell University played a deeply foundational role in the development of artificial intelligence. In 1956, Cornell Ph.D. graduate and "father of deep learning" Frank Rosenblatt ’50, Ph.D. ’56 (pictured above) first demonstrated the perceptron - the first machine that could learn to classify what it saw. Every deep learning system in use today descends from that algorithm. Cornell went on to found one of the world's first computer science departments in 1965, and its faculty have twice won the Turing Award.