As tech leaders warn of risks, more college students major in AI

Nearly 9 in 10 Americans are concerned about the growth and development of artificial intelligence, according to a recent CNN poll. But on college campuses, more students are gravitating toward the new technology.

Julia Schneider was among the first students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to declare a major in artificial intelligence.

“Ultimately I want to work on technology that ends up helping people,” Schneider said.

Since the “AI and Decision-making” program started at MIT in 2022, it grew from a few dozen students to more than 300. It’s now the school’s second-most popular major.

“There’s a tremendous popularity in AI degree programs: majors, minors, concentrations,” said Tracy Camp, the CEO of Computing Research Association.

The degree program at MIT focuses heavily on ethics and safety concerns.

“This isn’t just kind of a footnote at the end of a class that’s focused entirely on technical material,” Schneider said. “It’s the entire focus of semester-long courses.”

Schneider, now a graduate student, said even outside of the classroom, the ethical considerations of AI weigh heavily on students.

“My friends and I have a chat where we talk about going to the gym and really it’s more like 80% AI safety and 20% gym at this point,” she said.

After an Anthropic researcher resigned with a dire warning about the technology’s threat to humanity, top leaders in the industry called for a slowdown and lawmakers pushed for new guardrails. But instead of dissuading Schneider, she says the recent warnings make her more excited to learn and understand the new technology.

“Now is definitely the time to study more AI, not less,” Schneider said. “What we need is a bunch of people that are focused and excited and passionate about deeply understanding why these models do what they do.”

Across the country, 74 schools now have an AI major and 94 schools have an AI minor, according to the Center for Inclusive Computing. Many of these programs were created within the last year.