The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire is introducing new Artificial Intelligence majors, certificates and classes to their curriculum starting fall 2025. Computer Science Department Chair and professor of mathematics at UWEC Alex Smith said that students can choose from two different AI majors — one geared toward STEM and another that may appeal to non-STEM majors.
The major with less of a STEM focus is a 36-credit degree but will require students to pursue an additional minor or major, while the other is a 60-credit degree, according to Smith.
“Maybe it’s more of the STEM type of students, the computer science heavy students, that are going to be doing the coding of the algorithms,” Smith said. “But it’s still important for all of us to know and to keep pushing to make sure that algorithms have transparent design … so that when our social media feeds recommend something, we kind of know why.”
The new AI majors were approved Feb. 7 by the Universities of Wisconsin Board of Regents, according to a UWEC press release.
With the explosion of language models like ChatGPT since 2020, UWEC wanted to get ahead of the game by creating AI programming into the curriculum, according to Smith. With AI’s growing influence in society and the workforce, Smith wants to ensure students can adapt to potential changes.
Smith highlighted one of the classes required for the major — Human-Computer Interaction — goes beyond coding and takes into account the bias in algorithms. This basic knowledge of algorithms and human-computer interaction can contribute to a greater understanding of AI.
“If you understand the importance of transparent design in algorithms, whatever happens in the workforce, you understand the basic principle and the value of that outcome,” said Smith.
AI has faced backlash as some jobs have started to be replaced by AI-generated software, but the major will address the ethics and proper implementation of AI throughout each of its courses, according to Smith.
“The struggle I have is getting my students to feel good about using AI, like GPT, to generate their code and so they don’t feel like they’re cheating by having AI generate code,” said Smith. “It’s actually what the workforce is going to expect them to do.”
Smith and the other UWEC staff working on this curriculum believe that this multidisciplinary approach to the major will encourage students outside of traditional STEM majors to gain a practical understanding of AI.
“What our curriculum is aiming to do is give people the skills to work with others in the workforce in a multidisciplinary way,” said Smith.