AI: Beyond Computer Science

When students tell me that they would like to pursue a Computer Science major, I encourage them to consider digging to discover which parts of this field appeal to them most. These general areas are AI, Systems, Theory, and other Interdisciplinary Areas, and each of the categories holds many other specialized fields as well. Not surprisingly, Artificial Intelligence is often a popular choice because of its tangibility and promise.

Recently, a freshman student asked me to search for colleges offering a specialized AI major. At this moment, undergraduate AI programs are in the infancy stage at most universities, and AI as a distinct academic discipline is very new. However, I encouraged this boy to be patient as new programs will likely continue to pop up as he progresses through the rest of high school and prepares to apply to colleges.

Here’s a twist: the natural assumption that these programs will grow out of Computer Science is only partially true. I’ve learned that current AI research is being conducted by professors in various departments, and the work being done is not targeted specifically for "AI" majors.

Some of the most advanced AI work is being done within departments of psychology. Most of the recent recipients of PhDs from the Cognition and Perception division of NYU's Psychology department are working in AI at the highest levels. NYU also offers perception and cognition tracks to undergraduate psychology majors. Colby College recently announced that it has received a $30-million gift to establish the first cross-disciplinary institute for artificial intelligence (AI) at a liberal arts college. According to Colby President David A. Greene, The goal is to “reimagine a liberal arts education for this century and beyond. Importantly, it will ensure that the next generation of leaders will have rich technical expertise, but they will not simply be technocrats. These Colby graduates will be deeply educated in the liberal arts with the powers of discernment to shape AI for the greater good.”

It is satisfying to see AI find its place within academic disciplines that emphasize different higher level critical thinking skills apart from those required in STEM fields. I am optimistic and hopeful for students who will be able to hone in on many options as they plan to study AI. Some will choose to major in Computer Science, but they won’t need to. It’s all just beginning.

The Lord of the Rankings, Exposed

“Syracuse? Yes, I stopped for coffee there once driving back to my mom’s house in Canada. There were no students there, because it was Christmas. But wait! My cousin went to Syracuse, and he had a good time.”

“So you would rate it based on that?”

“Let’s give Syracuse some love. 3.9...no 4.0!”

Here’s Malcolm Gladwell, in his new season of the Pushkin/Revisionist History podcast, interviewing a university president going incognito as “Dean” to expose the questionable methodology of US News and World Report College Rankings. I wrote a blogpost about the unreliability of rankings in general in March, but Gladwell’s detective work is humorous as well as possibly shocking.

One might think the USNWR “peer rating” methodology involved some depth, knowledge, or experience, but that would be incorrect. As explained by Robert Morse, the originator and chief data strategist of the college rankings, three surveys are sent to the provost, president and enrollment manager/admissions dean of each of the 388 National Colleges and 200 Liberal Arts Colleges. These three individuals rank their peer institututions on a scale of one (serious problems) to five (amazing). When Gladwell asks if these judges necessarily know about the schools they rank, Morse equivocates:

“It’s a good question. Their view of undergraduate education is an aggregate of where these schools stand in the marketplace.”

“Do they necessarily know?”

“I don’t know. Some have knowledge, some don’t.”

Peer review carries the most weight in the rankings, and as we see in the above Syracuse ranking, it can be irrelevant. Other variables, like graduation rate, often have less to do with school quality and effort than with the difficulties low-income students face in completing their education. Gladwell illustrates further how schools doing great work with students, such as Rowan University in New Jersey and Dillard University in Louisiana, get low peer rankings for the reasons above.

These rankings fool families into creating baseless colleges lists based on the rankers’ whims rather than knowledge. US News launched the College Rankings as a marketing strategy to gain ground on Time and Newsweek back in 1983. The rankings concept was irresistible, and though many other rankings exist today, none rival USN in popularity.

Listen to this podcast if you are a high school parent, interested in higher education, or simply enjoy seeing the mask pulled off this respected arbiter of “the best colleges.”

https://www.pushkin.fm/episode/lord-of-the-rankings/

Want to help fix the big problems?

When students ask me for a direction for a major or career, I often show them the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (https://sdgs.un.org/goals), established in 2015 as a call to and plan for every nation to work together on the world’s most pressing problems. At least one of the goals (examples include Health and Human Well-Being, Clean Water and Sanitation, Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure, Climate Action, and Decent Work and Economic Growth) usually grabs their attention. The goals attract future engineers, scientists, educators, and business, health science, and non-profit professionals by presenting options for them to be involved in global improvement and sustainable, humane growth.

One of my favorite podcasts is Your Undivided Attention, hosted by Tristan Harris, who began his career at Google and eventually exposed tech’s consumer-driven goals in The Social Dilemma, a Netflix documentary I recommend to anyone who uses social media. In a recent podcast episode called “A Problem Well-Stated is Half-Solved,” Harris’s guest was Daniel Schmachtenberger, who believes that the only way to fix global problems is by global coordination, bringing intelligence of all forms together with government oversight. Every example he gave of failed attempts to stop conflicts, save species, and preserve human rights had one factor in common: a lack of global partnership and diplomacy.

Let’s encourage our Gen-Z students to major in international relations, political science, and other fields that teach skills that bring people together to take action. All the brilliant solutions offered by science don’t go far without cooperation between cultures and an understanding of a way forward that transcends conflict and allows people to work and thrive.

Link to Your Undivided Attention Podcast here: https://www.humanetech.com/podcast