Yet, OP has a point. In the course of getting a PhD in computer science, I had the requirement or opportunity to study computer hardware architecture, operating system design, compiler design, data structures, databases, graphics, and lots of different computer languages. And none of that stuff was ever relevant to AI—not one page of it. (Even the data structures and databases courses dealt only with data structures inappropriate for AI.) The courses I took in linguistics, neuroscience, mathematics, psychology, and even electrical engineering were all more useful.
Other than the specifically AI-oriented courses, I can recall only 2 computer science courses that turned out to be helpful for AI: Algorithm analysis, and computational complexity theory. And the AI courses always seemed out of place in the computer science department.
I would not recommend anyone interested in AI to major in computer science. Far too much time wasted on irrelevant subjects. It’s difficult to say what they should major in—perhaps neuroscience, or math.
Yet, OP has a point. In the course of getting a PhD in computer science, I had the requirement or opportunity to study computer hardware architecture, operating system design, compiler design, data structures, databases, graphics, and lots of different computer languages. And none of that stuff was ever relevant to AI—not one page of it. (Even the data structures and databases courses dealt only with data structures inappropriate for AI.) The courses I took in linguistics, neuroscience, mathematics, psychology, and even electrical engineering were all more useful.
Other than the specifically AI-oriented courses, I can recall only 2 computer science courses that turned out to be helpful for AI: Algorithm analysis, and computational complexity theory. And the AI courses always seemed out of place in the computer science department.
I would not recommend anyone interested in AI to major in computer science. Far too much time wasted on irrelevant subjects. It’s difficult to say what they should major in—perhaps neuroscience, or math.