Hi. I am currently a high school student. I want to do something related to artificial intelligence as a career in the future.But I don’t know what to study as a major in the college…So I need your advice!
- Should I double major in neuroscience and computer science or just take cognitive science as a major?
- Can you give me some advice about taking cognitive science?
I am concerned about majoring in cognitive science. Because it is such a new studies, I am worried that the college would not have a solid program. I looked up some programs, and I found out some colleges are more focus on linguistics. Actually, I feel like linguistics doesn't do anything with artificial intelligence...I want to study something like algorithm and programming.
- What kind of job can I get by graduating with cognitive science degree?
- Which college has a great program in studying in this field? (cognitive science, neuroscience, computer science)
Any recommendations?
I am very sorry for my poor English! I don’t speak English as my native language.
I appreciate if you can answer to those questions. Thank you!
If you want to get into AI, I strongly recommend making CS at least part of your degree. You will need the technical skills from that, which you wouldn’t get from a cog sci degree. At the undergrad level, you won’t get into the level of specialization to focus purely/primarily on AI; most of it is foundational courses (which are still an essential foundation for AI). I was a neuroscience major with a computer science minor (and I’ll be starting my PhD in computer science in the fall), so I’m a bit biased, but I really support the idea of somehow incorporating neuroscience into your degree. I think there’s a lot to be learned from the brain to inform AI (and robotics - that’s my area), and people in CS often ignore the biological side of intelligence, which I think is problematic. Perhaps you could major in CS and minor in neuroscience? I don’t think a double major is necessary if you get the skills and courses you’re looking for. I would recommend looking for schools that would give you a chance to get into research, because that’s where you could have a chance to get more involved in AI work.
I concur with nanotechnology above. For AI, make computer science your primary emphasis.There are several benefits to this. First, if you want to work right after getting a BS, computer science is a marketable degree in itself, whereas neuroscience and cognitive science is much less so. Second, you definitely need to be able to implement the algorithms needed for AI, and a strong computer science background will give you that ability, whereas the other two approaches might not.
I have a computer science background, and my D is very interested in neuroscience, so we have looked into this for ourselves. Note however, that D is not interested in computer science. So she is now evaluating whether to stick with neuroscience through a PhD or instead take the medical route.
Thank you for your reply! Some people said that I should minor in phycology, which I think unnecessary. Can you give me any advice about taking phycology class?
I wouldn’t say a psych minor is necessary if you want to go into AI. You definitely don’t need to decide on that now. I didn’t decide on or start taking classes for my minor until spring semester of my sophomore year.
Case Western Reserve has a very good cognitive science program