Rise of the AI graduates: DailyMail.com speaks to one of the first students to study artificial intelligence as universities start offering $30,000 worth of courses – but is it a cash grab or a valuable degree?
Colleges across the US have added AI courses to their curriculum, as companies scramble to find skilled workers and students look for higher-paying fields.
While much of the world sees technology as the way of the future, some people have warned students against gambling tens of thousands of dollars on technology that seems to be evolving every day.
Tiffany Hsieh, who works on AI development, told DailyMail.com: ‘While there is plenty of data telling us about the number of skills that will be affected by generative AI, much of that data tells us nothing about its nature. of the impact on those skills.
But a graduate student majoring in technology at Yeshiva University in New York said he believes AI is here to stay and that the degree is necessary to become a machine language engineer, which pays at least $160,000 a year.
Sumit Kumar (pictured) is an AI student at Yeshiva University and said he recommends students pursue an AI degree if they are “willing to work hard” to learn the technology
Tiffany Hsieh (pictured) is director of Jobs for the Future, which promotes equity and progress for education and the workforce. Hsieh advised students to focus on developing soft skills and should pursue an AI degree if that makes sense for them. There isn’t enough data yet to determine whether AI degrees are worth the investment
Companies are scrambling to find talent to fill positions – AI job postings on LinkedIn increased 599 percent last year compared to 2022.
Machine learning engineer, data scientist, AI researcher and computer vision engineer positions are among the most in-demand, with average salaries starting at more than $100,000.
However, these careers existed before AI degrees were introduced, Anna Orosz, a machine learning engineer for LinkedIn, tells Dailymail.com.
“When I graduated, there was no AI diploma yet, but I took all the relevant subjects,” Orosz said, adding that “(an AI diploma) is just another name for the diploma” she received, “but yet consists of the same courses.’
Orosz earned her master’s degree in data science from the University of Pennsylvania, which recently became the first Ivy League university to add an AI degree to its program in February and will welcome students this fall.
Students will gain insight into how to use AI tools and make “transformative scientific discoveries,” “create healthcare breakthroughs through new antibiotics,” and “deliver life-saving treatments and accelerate knowledge and creativity.”
John Gipson, the assistant vice provost of Purdue University, told Dailymail.com that Purdue is known for its strong computer science programs and opened two AI undergraduate degrees to “prepare students for cutting-edge developments in this field.”
Purdue University’s AI master’s program costs $933 per credit, which works out to about $28,000 per year.
Students in the AI program develop a comprehensive understanding of AI skills and are provided with the tools to understand and recognize the ‘social impact of AI’.
They will learn to understand how AI software works, the policy and legal aspects surrounding it, and the ethics of working with the technology, such as how AI systems can be biased and how they can often reflect existing societal inequalities.
The number of artificial intelligence degrees is increasing in the US as more companies add it as a necessary skill for jobs
Sumit Kumar, an AI student at Yeshiva University in New York, told Dailymail.com that his “hunger for knowledge” and “desire to learn the new age innovation pushed (him) to pursue a master’s degree in AI to follow.’
He is still in his second semester and not yet looking for a job, but speaking about his decision to pursue a degree in AI, he said, “I think AI will dominate the future and there will be new there will be innovations and I feel that I am well placed for a great career.’
Kumar added that his long-term goal is to become a machine language engineer and recommends other students pursue a similar degree if they are “willing to work hard to learn this complex technology.”
However, many students are beginning to wonder whether they should go back to school for a master’s degree in the subject or change their major.
And many of these confused individuals have taken to Reddit in recent months to ask fellow commenters whether they should pursue an AI degree.
Users responded with critical advice, as one person said the best advice he ever received was to ‘make yourself useful’.
They continued, “Whether or not that includes AI is up to you, I have personally decided not to push hard on AI in my career.
“There are always new things, a lot of them don’t stick, but a lot of them do, and learning new things is always part of the job.”
Dr. Raj Singh, who co-founded the AI program with his wife Neera, said: ‘(This program) will produce engineers who can harness this powerful technology in a way that benefits all humanity.’
Neera added, “We are excited to continue investing in Penn Engineering and the students who can best shape the future of this field,”
Penn’s new AI program follows in the footsteps of Carnegie Mellon, which also introduced an AI degree in 2018 and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) followed in the fall of 2022.
Students wonder if it’s worth pursuing an AI major in college and if it’s just a passing fad
A 2023 study found that 52 percent of college graduates wonder if they are prepared for the rise of AI, while 46 percent reported feeling threatened by the emerging technology.
More than half of employers surveyed said new hires will need to develop or strengthen AI skills to land a job.
“AI courses teach students relevant and current skills, with a combination of sustainable and technical skills and domain expertise, and those programs must continue to evolve with changes in technology,” Hsieh told Dailymail.com.
A recent one study found that a whopping 83 percent of professionals believe students should be prepared to use AI when they enter the job market, and nearly two-thirds say the U.S. won’t be able to keep up with other countries if colleges don’t add AI-specific systems to education.
“HR managers have been looking for AI-savvy talent, and organizations across many different industries have recently created (Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer) positions – many of them doing so after November 2022, when OpenAI launched ChatGPT,” said SHRMa human resources management company.
However, experts caution that AI degrees may not be the answer to the tidal wave of emerging technology, but rather need to be paired with a skill — like any other major.
But even as training in AI skills takes off, employers are focusing on soft skills like communication, emotional intelligence and negotiation in addition to their ability to work with systems.
a study of Jobs for the Future reported that of the highest employment occupations surveyed, 78 percent rated human skills as “important” or “very important.”
Human skills include communication, active listening, adaptability and relationship management.
According to Hsieh, it is too early to infer the full impact of AI degrees on graduates entering the job market, as they have only been added in recent years.
She added that “it is a smart idea for students interested in AI to take steps appropriate for them to express their experience and knowledge about AI tools.”
The caveat is that AI degrees are intended for highly specialized positions, she said, which may make sense to some people, but overall it’s probably not useful outside of these fields.
Instead, students should look at soft skills such as “AI literacy and fluency” and combine them with “domain-specific knowledge,” Hsieh said, adding that this “will be the key to success.”