Artificial intelligence (AI) is the topic of the day. Previous blog posts have explored the benefits and challenges of chatbot AI (ChatGPT) in higher education. ChatGPT has been in the news again recently with the drama surrounding the firing and re-hiring of its founder, Sam Altman. A health insurance company has been sued by surviving family members for allegedly denying necessary medical care based on faulty AI algorithms, contrary to doctors’ medical advice. Recent negotiations with the Autoworkers Union and the Actors Union have centered on the impacts of AI on union members’ jobs.
So, it’s not surprising that more and more college students want to major in computer science, with a specific focus on AI. The number of graduates from the University of Washington’s Paul G. Allen School (their school for computer science) doubled in the past 5 years and tripled in the past 10 years. At other schools in the state of Washington, students in the computer science programs have tripled and quadrupled in the past 10 years.
Student interest in computer science is so high, in fact, that it’s overwhelming colleges’ ability to provide the desired education. At the University of Michigan, there is a separate application process for the computer science major, designed to limit the number of students in the program. The University of Maryland requires a minimum grade in the introductory computer science courses, and a minimum GPA overall, before a student can be accepted as a computer science major. At Columbia University, computer science majors no longer have to select a specialty within the program (like AI or software development), resulting in a reduction of overall class sizes and a more interdisciplinary student body.
Institutions of higher learning are not the only source of AI-related coursework. Amazon, the company, has a new AI Ready Initiative to provide free AI skills training to 2 million people around the world over the next two years (by 2025). The initiative includes new free AI and generative AI courses, and scholarships for 50,000+ high school and college students. These new courses supplement an existing curriculum of 80+ free and low-cost courses about AI and generative AI.
And if you want a little help filling out your application to get into the computer sciences and engineering program at the University of Washington, a student has developed a website outlining the rubric that the UW admissions staff use to evaluate applications. Should help you write an essay that focuses on what the college wants to hear?
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