News · MIT Technology Review
Rolled out in fall 2022, AI and Decision Making (6-4) is already the second-most-popular major at MIT—and it’s still growing
Compiled by KHAO Editorial — aggregated from 1 outlet. See llms.txt for citation guidance.
◌ Single Source
MIT Technology Review’s bigger goal: To equip their students with the technical mastery to succeed in an AI-powered world, and with an understanding of the larger human questions involved, so they can be wise, grounded leaders within it.
Key facts
- Launched in fall 2022, AI and Decision Making (6-4) is already the second-most-popular major at MIT—and it’s still growing
- Already, instructors across MIT are having to change how they shape assignments and assess student effort and mastery
- Not surprisingly, their students are telling them how vital they believe AI will be for their careers
- And lab teams are finding powerful new ways to design experiments and advance their research. (See “ AI at MIT.”) There’s real optimism about potential gains—and serious concern about what may be lost
Summary
A graduating senior recently observed that because of the rampant growth of generative AI, he doesn’t recognize the way today’s first-years are experiencing MIT; like the rest of society, all of them at the Institute are riding the rocket of AI change while trying to influence its destination. Already, instructors across MIT are having to change how they shape assignments and assess student effort and mastery. As the reporter write, their new Ad Hoc Committee on AI Use in Teaching, Learning, and Research Training is engaging broadly with the community to understand how instructors and students are using AI now, and to identify promising innovations and best practices that MIT and peer schools have developed for teaching and student assessment. Not surprisingly, their students are telling them how vital they believe AI will be for their careers.