大學生湧向人工智能新專業（2/2）

College Students Flock to a New Major: A.I. (2/2)

At M.I.T., a new program called “artificial intelligence and decision-making” is now the second-most-popular undergraduate major.

The NYT - By Natasha Singer (Natasha Singer covers computer science and A.I. education.)

Dec. 1, 2025

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Over the past 15 years, the boom in smartphones and social media, along with industry promises of high-paying tech jobs, helped fuel college enrollments in computing. Nearly 173,000 undergraduates majored in computer science in the spring of 2024, compared with about 65,000 students a decade earlier, according to the Computing Research Association, a nonprofit that gathers data annually from about 200 universities.

But this fall, 62 percent of computing programs reported undergraduate enrollment declines, according to a report in October from the Computing Research Association.

One reason for the dip: student employment concerns.

Some large tech companies are laying off thousands of workers, and recent computing graduates say they have faced increased challenges in landing tech jobs this year. Companies like Amazon have also begun asking their software engineers to use A.I. tools that can write code, potentially reducing the need for junior programmers.

Among 133 computing programs participating in the Computing Research Association report, 66 percent somewhat or strongly agreed that computing majors who graduated this year were having difficulty getting jobs.

“It’s a noticeable difference,” said Andy Meneely, the undergraduate program director for software engineering at the Rochester Institute of Technology, “especially when I see really good students struggling to get a job.”

While computer science enrollment generally declined this year, many schools reported increased enrollment in subfields like A.I. Tracy Camp, the executive director of the Computing Research Association, called the shift “a new era for computing degrees becoming more specialized.”

That’s true of the A.I. major at U.C. San Diego, which is based in the department of computer science and engineering. As part of the program, the university developed two new courses in the foundations of A.I. and machine learning. Students must also take advanced math and grapple with the social impacts of emerging technologies, said Mia Minnes, the university’s vice chair for undergraduate computer science education.

Ms. Banga, the first-year student there, said her siblings were initially skeptical of her chosen degree program.

“They were like: ‘What? There’s a major called A.I.? No way!’” she said. “But my dad is in the tech business, and he was really happy.”

Translation

大學生湧向人工智能新專業（2/2）

在麻省理工學院，一個名為「人工智能與決策」的新課程如今已成為第二大熱門本科專業。

（繼續）

過去15年，智能型手機和社交媒體的蓬勃發展，以及科技業對高薪工作的承諾，推動了大學電腦專業的入學人數增長。根據電腦研究協會（Computing Research Association）的數據顯示，2024年春季，近17.3萬名本科生主修電腦科學，而十年前這一數字約為6.5萬人。該協會是一家非營利組織，每年從約200所大學收集數據。

但根據電腦研究協會10月發布的報告，今年秋季，62%的電腦專業課程稱報讀大學生人數出現下降。

導致人數下降的原因之一是：學生就業出路問題。

一些大型科技公司正在裁員數千人，而近期電腦專業的畢業生表示，今年他們在尋找科技工作方面面臨更大的挑戰。像亞馬遜這樣的公司也開始要求其軟體工程師使用能夠編寫程式碼的人工智能工具，這可能會減少對初級程式設計師的需求。

在參與電腦研究協會報告的133個電腦專業課程中，66%的課程在某種程度上認同, 或強烈認同今年電腦專業畢業生就業困難。

羅徹斯特理工學院軟件工程本科課程主任Andy Meneely說:“這是一個顯著的變化”，“尤其是我看到一些非常優秀的學生都在苦苦尋找工作。”

雖然今年電腦科學專業的入學人數總體下降，但許多學校報告稱，人工智能等細分領域的入學人數有所增加。電腦研究協會執行董事 Tracy Camp 將這種轉變稱為「電腦學位專業化的新時代」。

加州聖地牙哥大學的人工智能專業就是如此, 把電腦科學系與工程系課程作為學習人工智能基礎。作為該課程基礎的一部分，該大學開發了人工智能和機器學習兩門新的班別。本科電腦科學教育副主任Mia Minnes表示，學生還必須學習高等數學，並深入探討新興科技帶來的社會影響。

該校一年級學生Banga女士說，她的兄弟姐妹最初對她選擇的專業持懷疑態度。

她說道:“他們當時說： ‘什麼？有個專業叫人工智能？不可能吧！’”，“但我爸爸是做科技行業的，他非常高興。”

              So, artificial intelligence is the hot new college major. This semester, more than 3,000 students enrolled in a new college of artificial intelligence and cybersecurity at the University of South Florida in Tampa. One reason for the changes is that students have employment concerns. Apparently, AI is affecting the choice of university students in deciding their major area of study.