AI in Computer Science Education: Tool, Subdomain, and Wildcard

The future of AI will be determined in part by how its developers are educated. Thus, how computer science (CS) education incorporates instruction in various aspects of AI will have a substantial impact on AI’s evolution. Understanding how and what CS educators think about AI education is, therefore, an important piece of the landscape in anticipating – and shaping – the future of AI.However, little is known about how educators perceive the role of AI education in CS education, and there is no consensus yet regarding what AI topics should be taught to all students. This paper helps to fill that gap by presenting a qualitative analysis of data collected from high school CS instructors, higher education CS faculty, and those working in the tech industry as they reflected on their priorities for high school CS instruction and on anticipated changes in high school, college, and workplace CS. We conclude with recommendations for the CS education research community around AI in K-12, particularly at the high school level.