Attempts and Challenges in Establishing an Undergraduate AI Major

• Main Authors: Lu, Chan, Lu, Awn Ja
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Subjects: AI education; Data collection; Education; Industries; interdisciplinarity; professional education; Regulation; Stakeholders; Technological innovation; university-business partnership
• ISSN: 2377-634X
• DOI: 10.1109/FIE58773.2023.10343345

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a rapidly evolving field that is engendering paradigmatic transformations in many industries and driving innovation and growth worldwide. In response to the escalating demand for professional's adept in designing, developing, and deploying intelligent systems to solve complex problems, there is a burgeoning need to establish undergraduate AI majors. The purpose of this study is to scrutinize the establishment of undergraduate AI majors by examining the curriculum, faculty, mission, and graduates of universities that have conferred bachelor's degrees in AI since 2018. Five universities are found and centered, which are Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Edinburgh, the University of Groningen, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. With CIPP evaluation model, the study elucidates that establishing undergraduate AI majors is an arduous undertaking that is complicated by several factors. One major impediment is the scarcity of interdisciplinary curricula in AI, which is inextricably linked to societal demands for talented professionals. To ensure students receive a superlative education, universities need to fashion comprehensive and qualified AI curriculums that can cater to the latest technologies and techniques. Moreover, the requirement for specific resources, such as adequate and compliant data collection and regulation and specialized tools with robust computing capabilities, is a formidable challenge to develop and deploy intelligent systems. Universities need to allocate resources to state-of-the-art infrastructure and equipment to provide students with hands-on experience in AI. Additionally, the rapidly changing nature of the field of AI poses a significant challenge in establishing an undergraduate AI major. AI technologies and techniques are evolving expeditiously, making it challenging for universities to keep abreast of the latest developments. To tackle this challenge, universities need to foster partnerships with industry stakeholders to stay abreast of the latest trends and technologies. They also need to ensure that their curriculum is pliant enough to adapt to changes in the field of AI.