The University of South Carolina announced plans last week to open an artificial intelligence institute that give students and faculty a shared space for interdisciplinary collaboration. The institute, which the university hopes to have running by this fall, will focus on research to advance AI applications across a wide range of industries, Hossein Haj-Hariri, dean of the College of Engineering and Computing, told EdScoop. "[Industries] are already being transformed or will be transformed by artificial intelligence," Haj-Hariri said. "The window where we can really lead the injection of research into application areas is open," he said. To drive innovation and develop cutting-edge solutions using AI, the institute will draw on the knowledge and experience of students and faculty from all 15 colleges across the university's campus, making it a hub for interdisciplinary collaboration.