How to Choose a College Major in the Age of AI
In early 2023, Ellen Schendel called a meeting with faculty across all departments at Bowling Green State University. The single item on the agenda: ChatGPT, which had just made its way into the public's hands.
Colleges around the country were scrambling to figure out a game plan. On many campuses, the focus at first was on how to ban students from using artificial intelligence to cheat. But Schendel, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the Ohio public university, saw AI as an inflection point — not just a disciplinary headache.
“The conversation I wanted to have is, we're in this moment where AI is exploding,” she says. “We need to make sure that traditional college students have some exposure to thinking critically about AI and understanding the technology so that they can be savvy users.”
Two years later, and AI is already re-writing the rules of the workforce. With many employers now trying to automate the grunt work typically reserved for entry-level positions, recent graduates are having an increasingly difficult time finding jobs — even in fields once thought to be safe like science, engineering, technology and math (STEM).
Choosing a major is already a tough, existential decision. The looming threat of AI upending entire industries is making it all the more challenging for incoming students.
Earlier this year, when the New York Times' Learning Network asked students about their opinions on AI, several voiced concerns about job opportunities in the future.
"I am fearful that by the time I go to college and am ready to start a real job, there will be nowhere for me to work," Audrey, a student in New York, wrote in. "I need to do my research and go into a field that is not vulnerable to automation."
Experts who Money spoke with said these worries are sprouting up on campuses all over the country. AI is here to stay, they say, and it shouldn't be ignored — but it also shouldn't be cause for panic.
"College students should consider AI because employers are considering AI," says Josh Kahn, associate director of research at the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE). "But I don't think that means they need to ditch everything in their plans and come up with something radically new."
Why students are nervous about AI
In almost real time, recent college graduates are watching the first rung of the job-market ladder disappear due, in part, to AI disruptions in the workforce. Defined as those aged 22 to 27, recent grads are now far more likely to be unemployed than regular workers, with unemployment rates of 6.9% versus 4% respectively, according to the latest data from the New York Federal Reserve Bank.
A recent Oxford Economics report concluded the unemployment surge for recent graduates is partially related to a normalization of the job market after the pandemic. But “there are signs that entry-level positions are being displaced by artificial intelligence at higher rates," the economists wrote.
Not even STEM grads — who have been darlings of the workforce in recent decades — are safe from the trend. In several cases, their unemployment rates are actually higher. For example, recent physics graduates had an unemployment rate of 7.8%, with computer engineers not far behind at 7.5%.
In a prescient interview on Bloomberg TV back in 2017, billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban warned about the impact of AI and automation — specifically on STEM jobs.
"I personally think there's going to be a greater demand in 10 years for liberal arts majors than there were for programming majors and maybe even engineering," he said at the time.
His prediction was spot on. Humanities majors — fields that emphasize critical thinking, clear communication and logical reasoning — appear to be enjoying a comeback for the time being. According to NACE research, these foundational skills are consistently the most desired by employers. And right now, AI isn't great at them.
How long AI tools will lag in those areas is difficult to say. In an email interview with Money, Cuban reflected on his 2017 prediction and offered advice to college students picking majors in the age of AI. His latest warning? No skill or field will be fully AI proof.
AI + your interests = 'a killer combo'
Getting ready for the AI revolution doesn't necessarily mean majoring in artificial intelligence. It also doesn't mean you should try to guess at what field will be least impacted by AI.
In fact, in many ways, the process of choosing a college major hasn’t changed much, says NACE's Kahn. He still recommends you consider your interests, strengths and career and life goals. While AI should be an explicit consideration, it shouldn’t be the only thing.
According to Cuban, college students should try to get as much AI exposure as they can by experimenting with the tools, and pair it with "domain expertise," aka a specific field of knowledge.
"AI and domain expertise will be a killer combo," Cuban says.
Back in Ohio, that philosophy is the backbone of a novel degree program at Bowling Green. Last month, the university became the first in the country to develop an interdisciplinary AI degree called AI + X. The X can be one of six fields of study (computer science, mathematics, physics, history, journalism or public relations). Schendel says the new degree reflects a type of forward-thinking that is in the college’s DNA. Nearly 60 years ago, it was the first college in Ohio to offer a degree in computer science, for instance.
The program is slated to roll out this fall (pending approval from Ohio’s Education Department), along with a newly developed minor, AI and society.
“What better way to build an AI degree than to build a core in AI that gives students depth in the technology, but then an application area,” Schendel says.
Much like Cuban’s advice, BGSU’s degree program is a pairing of AI and a disparate field of study, and it could offer a blueprint for other colleges and universities to produce students ready for an AI-infused workforce right out of college gate.
Other examples of universities taking an innovating approach include Iowa State University, which is now offering a minor in applied artificial intelligence. And just this month, Ohio State University unveiled an "AI fluency" initiative that aims to have all students use AI during their general education.
Currently about 100 colleges offer some form of AI credential, according to an estimate by Georgetown's Center for Security and Emerging Technology, or CSET. Many colleges are including AI in their already-offered computer science or tech programs, CSET found.
But for now, BGSU stands out for creating a bachelor's degree that weaves AI into both the sciences and humanities.
Of course, not everyone is going to have access to an AI + X degree. Or attend a school like OSU that actively encourages you to use AI in your studies. Many colleges are still reluctant to incorporate the new technology in their general curriculum.
"Colleges aren't known for being nimble," Kahn says.
According to a recent survey of university leaders by the American Association of Colleges and Universities, a majority of colleges said they aren't prepared to use AI to help their students get ready for the future (56%) or to help their faculty teach more effectively (53%). What then?
You may have to get creative in finding ways to apply AI to your field of study. Cuban recommends taking any AI courses available to you — regardless of your major. Schendel encourages students reach out to career service departments and to professors directly and ask them how to incorporate AI into your field of study. You may also want to check course schedules and syllabi to see how or if AI is used in instruction and coursework.
You can take matters into your own hands, too. Student-led AI clubs are cropping up on campuses. Students at University of Florida started both technical and multidisciplinary AI clubs. Loyola University students in Chicago just started their own AI club in March, too.
Clubs like these are aimed at gaining familiarity with the deluge of AI tools to hit the market in a low-stakes setting, and then showcasing those newfound skills to employers.
Club member Jillian Rossman told the campus newspaper Loyola Phoenix that she was able to use ChatGPT to help her sharpen her coding skills and was able to incorporate them during her business internship.
“I feel like my potential went from a girl who only knows a certain set of things to a girl who has access to a personal mentor and tutor tailored to her,” Rossman said. “That girl can now achieve anything she wants in life."
Mark Cuban’s advice: Curiosity is king
Fast forward nine years from Cuban's prophecy about AI learning common tech skills, and tools like ChatGPT can already code instantly across multiple programming languages with just a few prompts. That’s not your cue to lament the downfall of STEM degrees. Rather, it should be a push to get acquainted with AI tools early and often, Cuban says.
If he were starting college in 2025, the Shark Tank star says he would study business (surprise), but he'd also pair it with any and every course “that lets me use every AI tool ever released in the week it’s released.”
Cuban’s advice isn't about focusing on any one major. It's all about incorporating AI into the field you’re interested in. As a father of two college-aged daughters, his family has been having these very conversations lately.
His advice here is the same as what he told his daughters: “Know AI tools better than anyone and you will be way ahead of everyone,” he said. “And be curious about everything.”
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