New AI major proposed for fall 2025

By Abigail Chiu     1/22/25 2:34am

The Faculty Senate will vote on a possible AI major Feb. 5, proposed by Rice’s Committee on the Undergraduate Curriculum. The program has been in development within the computer science department since Spring 2024, and if approved, could be offered as soon as Fall 2025.

Karlianna Kapche, a Duncan College freshman and undergraduate representative in the CUC, said the proposed degree will be a Bachelor of Science, a distinct major in the computer science department. The timeline depends on the voting outcome from the Faculty Senate, and current freshmen could likely still declare this major, said Vicente Ordóñez-Román, an associate computer science professor and CUC member.

If the major is approved, Rice will join similar institutions — the University of Pennsylvania, Carnegie Mellon University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology — that have developed incorporated AI programs of study.

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The proposed AI major reflects an increasing demand for large language model and machine learning classes at Rice, Ordóñez-Román said. 

“Even in my own class this semester, COMP 646: Deep Learning for Vision and Language, which is an advanced graduate course that at most counts as an elective for some programs, there are 35 undergraduate students out of a total of 140 students registered,” Ordóñez-Román wrote.

Neha Rajesh, a computer science major, said she would be interested in potentially majoring in AI. The industry is rapidly expanding, she said, and the major would allow students the opportunity to “specialize in a field that is essentially shaping the future of our world.”

“I think it is very important for students to not only gain the technical skills this major would have to offer but also to be able to understand the ethical challenges that come with the development and use of AI,” Rajesh, a Martel College freshman, wrote in an email to the Thresher.

Though classified under the computer science department, AI would be a separate program, rather than a concentration of the existing computer science major. However, Ordóñez-Román said he would encourage AI majors to take at least one 300-level class from the computer science course requirements to complement their AI education.

“If we want to do it right, we have to acknowledge that AI has grown into its own discipline. As a result, there are some foundational topics that would also be needed early into the program that would not allow for a concentration,” Ordóñez-Román wrote. “Personally, I think it would be possible to offer a concentration for students who want to take this path but it would still not be the same as majoring in Artificial Intelligence.”

Under the proposed major, AI classes would overlap with some introductory computer science courses, while also incorporating ethics — co-developed with the philosophy department — and cognitive psychology classes, Ordóñez-Román wrote. 

“We have some [existing] classes in artificial intelligence and machine learning offered sometimes as electives but we still plan to develop new versions of these classes that reflect a unified program and offer them more consistently,” Ordóñez-Román wrote.

Kapche said the proposed major “sounds like Rice is acknowledging how the world is running today,” and ensuring its graduates do the same. 

Ordóñez-Román expressed a similar sentiment.

“[AI’s] history is as long as the history of computer science itself. We do acknowledge, however, that there have been some recent advances that have sparked renewed interest in artificial intelligence,” Ordóñez-Román wrote. “An AI major is timely and would provide Rice students another path to be leaders in industry, academia and government.”

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