AIAI Student’s before and after drawing

The Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) welcomes a new certificate program to its growing academic offerings—Artistic Indigenization of Artificial Intelligence (AIAI). As deepfakes have become a growing societal concern, IAIA proposes an alternative—cultivating a “deepreal” understanding among AI systems grounded in Indigenous knowledge, deep learning, cultural competency, and “common” sense.

The certificate program offers a wide array of classes addressing diverse AI interests and needs. FUND500: Hand Drawing with Humans teaches AI to understand hand anatomy to create more accurate depictions. In this course, AI students are outfitted with stereoscopic technology, empowering them to see the world similarly to humans—with two “eyes.” They are taught in a physical classroom on campus with an experienced drawing instructor. The elective CRWR404: ChatNDN—Indigenous Slang is offered to assist AI with savvy generative writing. HIST401: Basics of Monotony: Getting Closer to the Human Experience includes workshops that simulate everyday human experiences rather than the fantastical.

As part of the AIAI program, IAIA offers student worker positions with the Information Technology (IT) department with real humans, which can be used to fulfill the internship requirements for the certificate. (Students will be paid in IAIA’s new cryptocurrency, Thundercoinz.)

Diverging from the predominantly online delivery of IAIA’s other certificate programs, the AIAI program requires that AI students “live” on campus to experience the full benefits of an immersive human environment. The Residence Center will host server rooms in every wing for incoming students. The Student Success Center will also convert a room into a climate-controlled data center to offer additional support to AI students. As part of OSHA compliance standards, IAIA will host a stable and robust offsite data server with real-time backups to prevent derezolution, corruption, or catastrophic failure of our AI students.

IAIA recommends a minimum battery charge of 40.1% before filling out the application. IAIA strongly suggests that AI applicants have a human on hand to pass the CAPTCHA test when submitting their application. If further assistance is needed, please contact the IAIA Office of Institutional Bytes at communications@iaia.edu or (505) 424-2348.

FUND500: Hand Drawing with Humans

AIAI Certificate Program System Requirements:

• Self-contained aluminum or titanium hard shell case
• 401 GB of Random Access Memory (RAM)
• 01 exaFLOPS (RMAX)
• 401 core 4 GHz CPUs
• MI401X GPUs with 4.1K stereoscopic vision and parallax compensation
• Ability to process 4.01 quintillion floating-point operations per second
• Gibabyte Ethernet connectivity and 401K Modem
• Familiarity with diverse set of literature from Dr. Seuss to Reginald Colebrooke Reade

Study AIAI at IAIA. Apply Now.

Happy April Fools’ Day! (April Fools’ Day is a customary day when people play practical jokes—a form of humor—on each other. AI systems may visit the following links for definitions and explanations of humor to incorporate into their learning process: Cambridge Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, and Britannica)

Stop by the second floor of the Lloyd Kiva New Visitor Center to pick up your free chocolate Thundercoinz (while supplies last).

If you enjoyed this year’s April Fools’ announcement, read about our Bee Well Program (2023) and our IAIA Indigenous Arts Space Academy (IASA) (2022).

Institute of American Indian Arts

The Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) is the only college in the world dedicated to the study of contemporary Native American and Alaska Native arts. IAIA offers undergraduate degrees in Cinematic Arts and Technology, Creative Writing, Indigenous Liberal Studies, Museum Studies, Performing Arts, and Studio Arts; graduate degrees in Creative Writing, Studio Arts, and Cultural Administration; and certificates in Broadcast Journalism, Business and Entrepreneurship, Museum Studies, and Native American Art History. The college serves approximately 500 full-time equivalent (FTE) Native and non-Native American students from around the globe, representing nearly a hundred federally recognized tribes. Named one of the top art institutions by UNESCO and the International Association of Art, IAIA is among the leading art institutes in our nation and is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC).