University of Hawaii at Manoa
HI · AI Readiness #89 of 227
AIREDEX™ Score: 7.5 /10
UH Mānoa undergrads in any major can take Artificial Intelligence Ethics (PHIL 326) for humanities credit, run projects on the free Koa GPU cluster, and use Google Gemini through their university accounts.
Rainbows have a campus AI chatbot, Bow the Bot, that checks in at key points in the semester and connects them to support, and about 93% have opted in. The free 12-chapter AI for Hawaiʻi course, launched in 2026, and Google AI Essentials give non-CS majors a self-paced start on AI fundamentals and responsible use. The OneAI Hub, launched in March 2026, pulls AI courses, training, and campus resources into one place for students across majors.
Pillar grades
- Commitment: B+
- Curriculum: B-
- Partnerships: C+
- Research: B+
A(I)ttitude™: neutral
Selected Highlights
- Gloria Niles (and predecessor Ina Wanca) hold the title Chief Academic Technology Innovation Officer, a university-wide AI executive role explicitly including AI in the title, housed in the Office of the UH President.
- Three-layer governance structure confirmed: AI Planning Group (chaired by President Hensel), AI Curriculum Task Force (co-chaired by CAIO and ECE faculty), and prior AISC -- all multi-school, named chairs, with public outputs within past 2 years.
- Multiple public documents confirmed: OVPAE Guidance on AI (2023), Board of Regents AI Strategy presentation (July 2026), and 'AI for Hawaiʻi' public course -- meeting 3+ of the 4 criteria.
- Confirmed institution-specific AI dollar figures include $12M NIH PAC-AID, $3M NSF DESCARTES, $2M NSF EPSCoR (UH portion), $1.8M EdSights contract, $7.4M EAB Navigate360 -- total confirmed institution-specific AI-related figures exceed $10M but remain below $50M.
- UH OneAI Hub (system-wide, multi-campus), Aloha Intelligence Initiative (ICS + multi-department), HI-DSI (multi-department), and Hawaiʻi AI Initiative all confirmed with named directors and active programming within past 2 years.