College Students Flock To A New Major: AI (nytimes.com)
- Reference: 0180325987
- News link: https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/12/07/2330215/college-students-flock-to-a-new-major-ai
- Source link: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/01/technology/college-computer-science-ai-boom.html?unlocked_article_code=1.6U8.hyaM.3dWvG9-FYxbj&smid=url-share
> This semester, more than 3,000 students enrolled in a new [4]college of artificial intelligence and cybersecurity at the University of South Florida in Tampa. At the University of California, San Diego, 150 first-year students signed up for a [5]new A.I. major . And the State University of New York at Buffalo created a stand-alone "department of A.I. and society," which is offering new interdisciplinary degrees in fields like " [6]A.I. and policy analysis ...."
>
> [I]nterest in understanding, using and learning how to build A.I. technologies is soaring, and schools are racing to meet rising student and industry demand. Over the last two years, dozens of U.S. universities and colleges have announced new A.I. departments, majors, minors, courses, interdisciplinary concentrations and other programs.
"This is so cool to me to have the opportunity to be at the forefront of this," one 18-year-old told the New York Times . Their article points out 62% of America's computing programs reported drops in undergraduate enrollment this fall, according to [7]a report in October from the Computing Research Association.
"One reason for the dip: student employment concerns."
Thanks to long-time Slashdot reader [8]theodp for sharing the article.
[1] https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/01/technology/college-computer-science-ai-boom.html?unlocked_article_code=1.6U8.hyaM.3dWvG9-FYxbj&smid=url-share
[2] https://www.sanjuandailystar.com/post/move-over-computer-science-students-are-flocking-to-new-ai-majors
[3] https://www.bostonglobe.com/2025/12/01/business/college-ai-majors/
[4] https://crowsneststpete.com/2025/09/29/usfs-bellini-college-launch-attracts-students-to-ai-and-cybersecurity-research/
[5] https://today.ucsd.edu/story/uc-san-diegos-new-ai-major-is-here
[6] https://engineering.buffalo.edu/ai-society/news-events/latest_news.host.html/content/shared/university/news/news-center-releases/2025/08/AI-degrees.detail.html
[7] https://cra.org/crn/2025/10/cerp-pulse-survey-a-snapshot-of-2025-undergraduate-computing-enrollment-patterns/
[8] https://slashdot.org/~theodp
useing AI on the test is not allowed and you must (Score:2)
useing AI on the test is not allowed and you must buy an GPU at the book store with an 200% mark up.
Re: useing AI on the test is not allowed and you m (Score:3)
I envision the curriculum being forever out of date.
Re: (Score:2)
I was thinking ideally you would pay the tuition and AI would do all the course work and tests for you and when it was done you would just collect your degree. Presumably you could do something else while you wait, maybe take a serious subject.
Re: useing AI on the test is not allowed and you m (Score:1)
Why do serious people end up working for clowns on things like making screens jump around?
Major in statistics (Score:2)
That's most of what the guts of AI is.
Re: (Score:2)
Statistical analysis is an important skill for any scientific field. But it's hardly the "guts" of AI.
AI is so much more: wide areas of applied math (linear algebra, differential equations, optimization theory, etc.) combined with computer science, all to support the actual "guts" of AI, which are neural nets. I'm sure I left out a ton of other things.
Re: Major in statistics (Score:1)
Why were neural nets alone unable to do context-sensitive natural language? Is the attention mechanism which is not a neural net the real paradigm shift?
Re: (Score:1)
It's definately helpful for machine learning folks to learn the classical statistical models and techniques (and terminology differences between the fields, in case you have to work with a stats major or read a stats paper), but stats models are quite different from machine learning models. The difference comes from whether or not you have to explain why the model works or whether it is enough for the model to perform well in testing. Statisticians insist on knowing the why and how - in machine learning i
Re: Major in statistics (Score:2)
I was referring to the common usage of "AI", which (at this point in time) refers exclusively to LLMs.
Re: (Score:2)
> I was referring to the common usage of "AI", which (at this point in time) refers exclusively to LLMs.
And LLMs are generally run on neural nets, which are substantially more than just statistics, as I was saying.
I agree that LLMs are what most people think AI is right now. But they're not the only kind of AI. And granted, some of these kinds arise from the realm of statistical modeling.
This might be a good thing (Score:4, Insightful)
Move away from the insanity of LLMs and massive data centre build outs and get more focused on efficient local hardware uses.
Re: (Score:2)
Either you're posting to the wrong story, or I shudder to think what you mean by "local hardware" when applied to a story about college students.
Re: (Score:2)
Never mind, I think I misunderstood evanh's post. I'll let myself out.
Re: (Score:2)
I've never heard someone in the AI space talk about computational complexity.
I HAVE heard someone rather famous in the AI space try and fail to play down the importance of this concept that he had never heard phrased that way before. I have heard executives from AI companies try to engage with NP completeness as a business opportunity.
My faith that this is a computer science degree rather than an information technology one is non existent.
Will there still be jobs when they graduate? (Score:2)
I suspect a lot of these people are signing up because they heard about seven figure salaries and huge sign-on bonuses. But, assuming the AI bubble hasn't burst by the time they graduate, I doubt those types of positions will still be a thing by then. The FAANG are spending big bucks to grab talent now in a race. Talent that's already got a decade if experience under the belt in comp sci and machine learning. Not a wet behind the ears undergrad.
Better as a minor (Score:3)
Conjecture that (degree X) with an applied AI minor would be a better combination.
Conjecture 2: Some company, with a stock market capitalization of $2+ billion today, will announce an AI induced failure causing an AI induced collapse in its share price and bankruptcy before 2033. I'd expect it to be when they apply AI to commodity trading with success for the first 5 years, then increasing the AI's impact afterwards. How would a company explain the AI, it's commodity trading rules, risk management and validate it's testing in non-production to the company's financial auditors?
Re: Better as a minor (Score:1)
Are you saying major in finance?
Quality Education (Score:2)
Oh boy. And you just *know* most of the people teaching all these classes don't know anything about it. It's going to be students turning in assignments LLMs wrote for them, graded by LLMs.
When CS was new it was the same (Score:1)
Just Math professors with high IQs teaching themselves then teaching; some did better than others.
Re: I can only imagine... (Score:1)
What if they hedge by shorting AI even as they major in it?
Who knows? (Score:2)
Bunches of everyone gets and A grads! Might just pop this bubble.
Can't ban AI for tests in this major, I guess (Score:2)
Seems like a win for lazy students!
Wrong major (Score:5, Interesting)
Chemical Engineering/MSE will be much more valuable for those that can hack it.
Re: (Score:3)
I get the feeling that many people who will be opting for AI/cybersecurity are hoping to somehow get the gold star of approval that allows them to get a paycheck for not actually doing work.
Kind of like how a lot of people wanted to get hired by the big tech companies (meta, alphabet, apple, amazon, netflix, etc.) and draw a 6 figure salary for basically doing nothing - except maybe video blogging about how they were making a 6 figure salary for basically doing nothing.
I would caution people trying to treat
Re: (Score:2)
Same reason people get IT degrees.
Re: Wrong major (Score:1)
"fundamentals (like data science, OSI, etc.)"
Do you use those fundamentals to serve man, or just make them do whatever a selfish, greedy boss wants?
Did something change drastically? (Score:2)
Because the last I checked chemistry majors like that had a rough time in the job market. If you could find a job the pay was good but the problem was they're just weren't enough of them.
Re: (Score:2)
As in any subject, unless there is a mindless hype (such as "AI" currently) finding a job with a specific degree requires you to have done well. Too many just want the paper but not the qualification that should come with it and for-profit "education" makes it easy to do so. Then they are surprised they have problems finding a job ...
Re: (Score:2)
Obviously. But those that "can hack it" are still going into non-vacuous subjects, not into "AI". And "AI and Cybersecurity"? How utterly stupid are these people? AI helps attackers, not defenders. AI may make defense harder though, because AI generated code is riddled with vulnerabilities. (Yes, I am aware there is more AI than LLMs...)