Cal State San Bernardino plans to help Inland Empire workers build skills for a workplace changing with AI and automation, including people at risk of losing their jobs and those already displaced.
The university’s planned retraining cohort is part of its AI Research and Retraining Center, described in a September 28 announcement. Workers would receive training alongside a broader research effort involving AI, robotics and virtual reality.
The university describes the goal as helping people add AI tools to skills they already use at work, without requiring everyone to become an AI engineer.
For someone hoping to participate, however, the next step is not yet clear. The announcement does not provide application instructions or a training start date.
What the training would include
CSUSB plans an AI Retraining Portal and a library of training materials for workers, students and community partners.
Hands-on instruction is planned through a robotics lab in the university’s Center for Global Innovation building.
Vincent Nestler, a professor in the School of Cyber and Decision Sciences and director of CSUSB’s Center for Cyber and AI, is also seeking faculty across the university to study how workers can develop skills after job displacement.
The invitation extends beyond computing and cybersecurity to disciplines concerned with education, business, communication and society.
Research into what AI can do—and where it fails
The center will also examine the capabilities and vulnerabilities of emerging technology.
CSUSB says it is being equipped with AI computing technology, virtual reality systems, and quadruped and humanoid robots. Researchers will investigate whether AI systems and robots can be hacked, manipulated or made to behave in unintended ways.
Nestler describes one possible direction: a robot could scan a room, create a virtual version and test routes before moving through the physical space.
That is an idea he envisions, not a result reported in the announcement.
The funding was announced earlier
CSUSB says the two-year project is supported by a $1.031 million National Institute of Standards and Technology Congressionally Identified Projects award.
The university says Rep. Pete Aguilar secured the award with support from Sen. Adam Schiff.
This was not a new award in September. CSUSB’s February 6 announcement reported a ceremonial check presentation on February 5 and said the funding had been obtained through legislation passed in January.
What prospective participants still need to know
The September announcement does not specify:
- How to apply or who meets the eligibility requirements.
- When the worker cohort will start.
- Whether there will be fees.
- How many places will be available.
It also does not establish that the AI Retraining Portal is available or that enrollment has opened.
The cohort and training resources remain plans. No job-placement results are reported.
Update, October 14: Revised the headline and opening, reorganized the article for clarity and added key points. The facts, sources and archive links are unchanged. This revision does not establish any launch or enrollment opening after the September announcement.