This fall, the College of Arts and Letters is launching a new Bachelor of Science in Artificial Intelligence and Human Responsibility, a degree program that emphasizes the social and environmental aspects of AI technologies. Enrolled students will be able to switch into the major beginning October. 

The introduction of the artificial intelligence chatbot, ChatGPT, on Nov. 30, 2022, transformed the generative AI market. Two months later, it set a record as the fastest-growing consumer app, reaching an estimated 100 million users, according to a UBS study. 

Three years and 500 million users later, ChatGPT is all but embedded into daily life, with almost every industry using the platform to some degree—including the California State University system, which implemented AI into all 23 CSU universities through collaborations with major tech companies on Feb. 4, according to a CSU press release. 

While the faculty is excited to welcome students into the major, some students remain critical about its implementation. 

Nitin Chatlani, a fourth-year computer science student, thinks that learning about AI and responsible use is important, but he worries that the program is too broad to teach students the hard skills they need for current AI jobs. 

“If I’m getting a degree in AI and I come out of it learning only about when it is wrong and right to use AI,”  he said. “Yes, I’ll have a fundamental understanding of how it works, but in my mind, I’m thinking, like, then how do I put that to use?”

Chatlani hopes that students will not be misled by the major title, but instead will do the necessary research into what courses and technical skills the program actually offers. 

This program aims to address those discrepancies by systematically bringing together existing courses from different departments. 

 “If you just want to learn the mechanics of tech, this degree will stretch you in ways that you don’t expect,” College of Arts and Letters Dean, Todd Butler, said. “This isn’t somewhere where the ethics of technology is going to be asked in December in the last two meetings of a class. It’s woven through the entire degree.”

Butler emphasizes that traditional technical knowledge—namely, large language models and data analysis—is present, but the program is unique in its opportunity to ask questions about AI in society. 

Carlie Thaele, a fourth-year student majoring in sustainability, says she feels as though SDSU may have only created this program because the popularity of AI would encourage more people to apply to SDSU. 

Chatlani also touches on applications to SDSU when he says that in recent years, he has seen an overadmittance of students into the College of Sciences, leading to class shortages, and some professors relying on AI to create course materials. 

“If I see my professor, that’s, like, giving me an AI generated assignment, then I’m gonna be like, well, come on now,” he said. “Then it ends up harming, like, what we are able to take in from that class a lot.”  

Thaele shares similar concerns, saying that students may also feel incentivized to use AI.

“I think it’s a bit worrisome, kind of the normalization of AI a little bit because I don’t think it should be something that is super heavily promoted on college campuses,” Thaele said. “I think it should be something that’s understood more or less, but promoted to the fact that it’s like a major?”

Rather than create a brand-new major, Chatlani says he feels that it would be more helpful to address AI within every major program, noting that almost all careers now have some AI element to them. 

“And in fact, computer science used to have an ethics course that was required for all students,” he said. “But it’s not required and doesn’t count towards your degree at all, so it does not incentivize students to take it. It feels like this is almost that, but making up for it in a different, less productive way.” 

Thaele also calls for more technological integration across existing majors, explaining that she has had to independently seek out classes that teach the hard skills necessary for success post-graduation. 

Ming-Hsiang Tsou, director of the Big Data Analytics Program, explains that the new major will teach undergraduate students how to adapt to morphing technology through high-level perspectives, which are highly transferable at the graduate level.

“And so we’re providing a degree for students that has staying power over the course of their lifetime rather than just the first job,” Butler said. “There are careers that are beyond simply working for Google or Microsoft or Facebook, where they can have a real impact, not just on their own individual future, but their future communities.” 

With both current and prospective students expressing interest in the major, the College of Arts and Letters looks forward to introducing a minor and capstone course in the coming year.

Editor’s note: Headline was changed to reflect accurate spelling