The words artificial intelligence have gained heightened visibility in society, given rapidly accelerating technological advances and growing ways and demand to apply large amounts of data in varied fields.
So perhaps it only makes sense that Carnegie Mellon University, a campus that knows a thing or two about computing and machine learning, would resolve to be ahead of the curve.
Officials with the university and its School of Computer Science Thursday morning are announcing what they say is the nation's first undergraduate degree program in artificial intelligence (AI).
A statement from the university says its intent is to give students in-depth understanding of "ways to transform large amounts of data into actionable decisions."
Officials said the program, being unveiled this hour, is intended to meet increased demand both by employers and students who are interested in careers in AI.
“Specialists in artificial intelligence have never been more important, in shorter supply or in greater demand by employers,” said Andrew Moore, dean of the School of Computer Science, in a statement accompanying Thursday's announcement. “Carnegie Mellon has an unmatched depth of expertise in AI, making us uniquely qualified to address this need for graduates who understand how the power of AI can be leveraged to help people.”
The program is intended to educate students to think broadly about methods that can accomplish a wide variety of tasks across many disciplines, said Reid Simmons, research professor of robotics and computer science and director of the new degree program.
It will focus more on how complex inputs like vision, language and huge databases can be used "to make decisions or enhance human capabilities,” he explained in a statement.
Students will get the same grounding in computer science and math courses as other computer science students, officials said. But the students also will get course work in AI-related subjects including statistics and probability, computational modeling, machine learning and symbolic computation.
Students accepted by SCS as first-year students will be able to enter the AI degree program in their second year. The new program will accommodate up to 100 second-, third- and fourth-year students, or roughly 30 to 35 new students each year, officials said.
The School of Computer Science enrolls approximately 735 undergraduates.
Bill Schackner: bschackner@post-gazette.com, 412-263-1977 and on Twittter: @Bschackner.
First Published: May 10, 2018, 1:30 p.m.
