I was just pondering saying what if I wanted to work on AI programming for a living. What kind of degree would that constitute lol? Personally I am facinated by AI but I really don't think it would be all that fun to do for a living it is really just a ponder.

a CS or Math degree maybe .....

you would want to get a phd from a university with a program that specialized in ai.

Quote: Original post by fur
you would want to get a phd from a university with a program that specialized in ai.

I'd recommend this as well, although it depends a bit on what you define as "A.I.". A problem with Artificial Intelligence is that the real work is done on the cutting edge stuff. Once a problem is solved, it isn't really considered an A.I. problem anymore (such as chess playing programs, for example).

So that means starting off with a computer science degree, or possibly a maths degree with a comp. sci. minor.

I'm doing a CS and AI joint degree. Not every university offers this, though.

As others have suggested, computer science or mathematics would be good choices. The other thing to consider is what else you like doing; What other things would you possibly like to do for a living? What kinds of subjects are you good at? Leave your options open. This is partly why CS or math are attractive options: they open doors to many other fields. Possibly some fields that you might not have expected to enjoy.


-Josh

It depends on what you mean by AI. If you're talking about Game AI, a BSc in CS should be fine.

I would advise at least a Masters degree working with AI. Though a BS is good, but it lacks the focus that a graduate level degree gives you. Not to mention it'll give you a chance to become more specialized. And if luck will have it that you are able to publish some research on game AI related topics, that'll look even better.

The whole game development business is getting much more complex nowadays that some companies are just realizing that a BS in CS just won't cut it for some tasks, especially how people with a degree in CS come a dime a dozen nowadays. So, there is a general trend that larger companies are starting to look higher up into the chain.

Not to revive my old thread but I actually forgot about it lol. Currently I am studying Information Systems and Technology. Really I don't know if that is enough for anything in the games industry being that they cut out some calculus so you can take Economics courses and such. But the programming and programming concept courses are all the same as CS. Personally now that I am taking calculus I wish I actually stayed in CS because I actually like it lol. I got scared away because I was never the greatest at math but I am doing quite well in clac so far. Oh well too late to change majors again because I am already in my second year of school. If I switch again it will screw with graduation dates :S

Some places also have Cognitive Science degrees which are more cross-disciplinary and all-encompassing than a CS or Math degree. They study things like brain physiology, human behavior, etc. Not every university offers such a program though, so you need to shop around. Perhaps the sci.cognitive newsgroup could steer you right.