Computer science students are shielded from liberal arts. That may be a problem.
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Earlier this week, my colleague Ian Bogost published a provocative article about a trend in higher education: the creation of separate computing universities similar to law schools. As the number of students graduating with computer science majors increases, new programs are being launched at MIT, Cornell University, and soon the University of California, Berkeley. They serve a growing market.
“When they elevate computing to university status with departments and budgets, they are proclaiming it a higher realm of knowledge and practice,” Ian writes. “This decision raises the fundamental question of whether we should see computing as a superfield that dominates all others, or simply as a servant of other realms, subordinate to their interests and control. This suggests, not coincidentally, that this is also a fundamental question about computing in our society as a whole.”
This story about subordination naturally turned my attention to AI. AI is a technology that some believe threatens to transform the world as we know it. When students pursue an AI major within the confines of a computing university and without a foundation in a broader liberal arts and sciences education, they need to make wise decisions about how the technology is applied. What can we expect? We asked Ian what he thought.
“We don't usually use computers just for computing. Computing does something,” he told me. “A.I. It's a term with no real meaning. In some ways, this is just a nickname for the increasing automation that has been going on for years. But one of the promises, or threats, of AI is that computational problem-solving can be applied to more areas and with greater effectiveness. So if a computer guy actually knows less about everything in the world outside of computing, and at the same time he's building or applying AI to more problem areas and faster, that's actually That seems very alarming. ”
However, the risks currently extend in two directions. “Computer people” may be overlooking the liberal arts, but liberal arts students are also overlooking computer science. “When people with domain expertise argue that they can fight AI by simply resisting it as an unwelcome intrusion, they have an opportunity to influence how computing can colonize their efforts. There is also a risk of abandoning it,” Ian said. “It seems naive to think that this is not the case, that the 'enemy' is something we can or even want to stop forever at our gates.”
— Damon BerrethSenior Editor
Universities have a computer science problem
Ian Bogost
Last year, 18% of Stanford seniors graduated with a degree in computer science. This is more than double his rate just 10 years ago. Over the same period at MIT, that percentage rose from 23% to 42%. These increases are common everywhere. The average number of undergraduate CS majors at universities in the United States and Canada has tripled in the decade since 2005 and continues to increase. Students' interest in CS is intellectual, and these days culture moves through computation, but it is also professional. Young people want access to wealth, power and influence in the technology sector.
That ambition created both tremendous administrative burdens and competition for prestige. At Washington University in St. Louis, where I am a faculty member in the computer science and engineering department, there is a new waiting list for his CS class each semester. At many campuses, students can choose to study computer science at one of several different academic locations located in various departments. For example, at MIT, you might choose from the four CSs: a degree in “Urban Studies and Planning with Computer Science” from the School of Architecture, or a degree in “Mathematics with Computer Science” from the School of Science. Related fields within the Faculty of Engineering. This penetration of computing throughout the university has helped meet burgeoning student interest, but it has also helped increase student demand.
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P.S.
When I spotted Coca-Cola's new flavor, Raspberry Spice, in grocery stores earlier this week, I was reminded of back in September, when the company announced a formula that was reportedly created with the help of artificial intelligence. “It smells like circus peanut candy and tastes almost like cola,” my colleague Caitlin Tiffany wrote at the time. Bottom up.
— Damon