The university is no longer content with merely using artificial intelligence; it will now study how to build it.

The question within American universities is no longer how students use artificial intelligence. It has evolved into a broader question: how do they learn to build it, understand its limitations, and apply it in disciplines not traditionally associated with programming?

At the University of Southern California (USC), the first cohort of a four-year Bachelor of Science in Artificial Intelligence program launched this fall. The curriculum focuses on designing, training, and applying AI models in fields such as robotics, drug discovery, and agriculture. The university emphasizes that students will not merely use off-the-shelf tools, but will study how to build intelligent systems themselves.

The program also includes mandatory courses in AI ethics, addressing issues such as algorithmic bias and accountability for decisions made by autonomous systems. USC expects the major to eventually accommodate approximately 200 students simultaneously.

Meanwhile, the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is taking a different approach by establishing a separate department for Digital Humanities. Its bachelor’s program integrates AI and digital tools with history, languages, sociology, archaeology, and the arts.

The underlying idea is not to turn every student into a programmer, but to prepare a generation that understands how technology works, knows when to trust it, and can critically evaluate its outcomes.

This move reflects a broader trend among American universities to rapidly redesign academic programs in response to shifting labor market demands, despite warnings from academics that curricula may quickly become outdated in a field evolving at an exceptional pace.