B.S. Artificial Intelligence (CSE-BS-004)

Updated July 10th, 2026

The information on this page is tentative and subject to change.

In the Artificial Intelligence (AI) major, students develop the knowledge and skills necessary to build, apply, and assess artificial intelligence technologies across disciplines and to ground AI studies in societal and professional contexts. Core topics include programming, data structures, algorithms, AI, machine learning (ML), and data ethics. Upper-division coursework includes core Artificial Intelligence classes, specialized electives, and application-focused courses from CSE and other departments (including Data Science, Cognitive Science, Mathematics, and Philosophy). AI electives explore computer vision, natural language processing, robotics, and others. Additional electives in specialization areas build depth and breadth within systems, theory/abstraction, and applications of computing.

UCSD- CSE General Catalog

B.S. Artificial Intelligence Major Change Policy

For the 2026-2027 academic year, only students admitted directly into the Artificial Intelligence major by UCSD's Admissions Office will be permitted to major in Artificial Intelligence. The CSE Department will not accept internal major switches into the Artificial Intelligence major in the 2026-2027 academic year during this initial ramp-up phase.

CSE students majoring in Computer Engineering, Computer Science, and Computer Science with a Specialization in Bioinformatics may not request to switch to the Artificial Intelligence major during the 2026-2027 academic year. All requests to switch to B.S. Artificial Intelligence in the Triton Student System (TSS) will be disapproved, so please plan accordingly.

Students admitted into Artificial Intelligence may switch into another CSE major without restriction. However, they will not be able to switch back into B.S. Artificial Intelligence until this policy is revisited.

This policy for internal major changes will be revisited in 2027, and more information about internal major changes between CSE’s four majors will be posted by Fall 2027.

Please note: CSE Advising cannot guarantee that CSE majors admitted before Fall 2027 will be permitted to major in Artificial Intelligence, as the current policy may remain in place.

CSE majors who are interested in studying Artificial Intelligence can use the “Focus Sheets” resource to select elective courses within the AI and machine learning subdisciplines.

Students who were not admitted to the CSE Department must apply to the CSE Department through the Selective Major Process. The AI major will not be an option for the Selective Major Process at this time. Visit the Continuing Students Selective Major website and the CSE Selective Major website for more information about this process. Many CSE classes are available to students in other majors. Visit the CSE Undergraduate information Homepage to see which classes are offered and for enrollment/booking advice.

We appreciate your patience and understanding as we introduce this new major. Please reach out to CSE Advising in the Virtual Advising Center (vac.ucsd.edu) or during drop-in advising if you have questions.

Degree Planning:

B.S. Artificial Intelligence Checklist (Fall 2026 Curriculum): a checklist for all major requirements for students on the Fall 2026 curriculum
BS Artificial Intelligence Checklist (Fall 2025 Curriculum ONLY)

CSE-BS-004 Major Policies

All major requirements must be taken for a letter grade AND passed with a C- or better (with the exceptions of: CSE-089, CSE-091, CSE-095, CSE-109, CSE-197, CSE-198, and CSE-199).
A maximum of 12 units of P/NP courses may count, chosen from: a maximum of 8 units of CSE-198 or CSE-199 or-199H; a maximum of 4 units of CSE 197.
- Students may use 8 units of CSE-198 or CSE-199 or CSE-199H towards CSE elective requirements.
- Students may use up to 8 units of ENG-100D/ENG-100L courses towards upper division CSE Elective credits (as part of the 8 units maximum of CSE-198/199/199H Special Studies courses allowed). You are NOT able to take ENG-100D twice.
- Students may use CSE-109 (2 units) towards upper division CSE Elective credits, as part of the 12 units maximum of P/NP courses allowed.
A maximum of 12 units of CSE-190 can be used towards CSE elective credit. May be repeated for credit max 3 times (maximum of 12 units; assuming courses taken for a different topic).
- Please visit the CSE-190 website for current offerings and to view the tag for each course.
Undergraduate students may use CSE graduate-level courses towards their major requirements, but may need a petition if they have taken the equivalent/similar undergraduate course.
- Undergraduate students must get instructor's permission and departmental approval (TEA request) to enroll/book a graduate course.
- CSE-291's are topics courses and are counted as part of the maximum of three CSE-190's allowed for CSE electives.
Untagged upper division CSE courses that may be used as CSE Electives are CSE-109 (2 units), CSE-190 (tagged based on offering), CSE-192, CSE-195, CSE-197, CSE-198, CSE-199, CSE-199H.
CSE courses that may not be used as CSE Electives courses toward the AI degree are: CSE-180, CSE-180R.

2026-2027 B.S. Artificial Intelligence Electives:

Please see your degree checklist for your admit year to find more information about the upper division elective requirements.

AI Electives

Courses that are pre-approved as both an AI Elective and a tagged Systems/Theory/Applications Elective can only be used to fulfill one major requirement. Each course can only fulfill one major requirement (either a core course, or an AI Elective, or a Systems Elective, or a Theory Elective, or an Applications Elective, or an Open CSE Elective). Please plan accordingly.

CSE-106 - Discrete and Continuous Optimization (4)

CSE-150A - Introduction to Artificial Intelligence: Probabilistic Reasoning and Decision-Making (4)

CSE-150B - Introduction to Artificial Intelligence: Search and Reasoning (4)

CSE-152A - Introduction to Computer Vision I (4)

CSE-152B - Introduction to Computer Vision II (4)

CSE-153 or CSE-153R - Machine Learning for Music (4)

CSE-156 - Statistical Natural Language Processing (4)

CSE-158 or CSE-158R - Recommender Systems & Web Mining (4) or DSC-148 - Introduction to Data Mining (4) [Students may not receive credit for DSC-148 and CSE-158 or CSE-158R.]

COGS-108 - Data Science in Practice (4)

COGS-109 - Modeling and Data Analysis (4)

COGS-118A - Supervised Machine Learning Algorithms (4)

COGS-118B - Introduction to Machine Learning II (4)

COGS-118C - Neural Signal Processing (4)

COGS-181 - Neural Networks and Deep Learning (4)

COGS-182 - Introduction to Reinforcement Learning (4)

COGS-185 - Advanced Machine Learning Methods (4)

COGS-186 - Genetic Algorithms (4)

COGS-188 - Artificial Intelligence Algorithms (4)

DSC-102 - Systems for Scalable Analytics (4)

DSC-120 - Signal Processing for Data Analysis (4)

DSC-140A - Probabilistic Modeling and Machine Learning (4)

DSC-140B - Representation Learning (4)

DSC-148 - Introduction to Data Mining (4) or CSE-158 or CSE-158R - Recommender Systems & Web Mining (4) [Students may not receive credit for DSC-148 and CSE-158 or CSE-158R.]

DSC-161 - Text as Data (4)

DSC-170 - Spatial Data Science and Applications (4)

ECE-172A - Introduction to Intelligent Systems: Robotics and Machine Intelligence (4)

ECE-175A - Elements of Machine Intelligence: Pattern Recognition and Machine Learning (4)

ECE-175B - Elements of Machine Intelligence: Probabilistic Reasoning and Graphical Models (4)

ECE-176 - Introduction to Deep Learning and Applications (4)

MATH-102 - Applied Linear Algebra (4)

MATH-170A - Introduction to Numerical Analysis: Linear Algebra (4)

MATH-173A - Optimization Methods for Data Science I (4)

MATH-173B - Optimization Methods for Data Science II (4)

MATH-181A - Introduction to Mathematical Statistics I (4)

MATH-181D - Statistical Learning (4)

MATH-182 - Hidden Data in Random Matrices (4) or DSC-155 - Hidden Data in Random Matrices (4) [Students will not receive credit for both MATH-182 and DSC-155.]

MATH-189 - Exploratory Data Analysis and Inference (4)

PHIL-150 - Philosophy of the Cognitive Sciences (4)

Computer Science and Engineering

Any upper-division CSE course between CSE-100 to190, 193, 194 that is not being used for another major requirement (and is taken for a letter grade and passed with a C- or better) may be used towards an upper-division "CSE Elective" for the B.S. Artificial Intelligence major.

Each CSE Elective course is “tagged” as Systems, Theory, Applications of Computing, and/or Open CSE Electives. Students may view the full list of tagged CSE courses on the CSE Undergraduate Program Catalog.

Cognitive Science

COGS-108 - Data Science in Practice (4) - Applications of Computing

COGS-109 - Modeling and Data Analysis (4) - Applications of Computing

COGS-118A - Supervised Machine Learning Algorithms (4) - Applications of Computing

COGS-118B - Intro to Machine Learning II (4) - Applications of Computing

COGS-118C - Neural Signal Processing (4) - Applications of Computing

COGS-120 - Interaction Design (5) - Applications of Computing

COGS-121 - Human Computer Interaction Portfolio Design Studio (4) - Applications of Computing

COGS-122 - Start-up Studio (4) - Applications of Computing

COGS-123 - Social Computing (4) - Applications of Computing

COGS-124 - HCI Technical Systems Research (4) - Applications of Computing

COGS-125 - Advanced Interaction Design (4) - Applications of Computing

COGS-126 - Thinking with Computers (4) - Applications of Computing

COGS-127 - Data-Driven UX/Product Design (4) - Applications of Computing

COGS-181 - Neural Networks and Deep Learning (4) - Applications of Computing

COGS-185 - Advanced Machine Learning Methods (4) - Applications of Computing

COGS-186 - Genetic Algorithms (4) - Applications of Computing

COGS-187A - Usability and Information Architecture (6) - Applications of Computing

COGS-187B - Practicum in Professional Web Design (4) - Applications of Computing

COGS-188 - Artificial Intelligence Algorithms (4) - Applications of Computing

COGS-189 - Brain Computer Interfaces (4) - Applications of Computing

Please use the Triton Enrollment Authorization (TEA) system for COGS course clearance.

Data Science

DSC-100 - Introduction to Data Management (4) - Applications of Computing

DSC-102 - Systems for Scalable Analytics (4) - Systems

DSC-120 - Signal Processing for Data Analysis (4) - Systems

DSC-123A- Optimization Methods for Data Science I (4) - Theory

DSC-123B- Optimization Methods for Data Science II (4) - Theory

Design

DSGN-100 - Prototyping (4) - Applications of Computing

Economics

ECON-172A - Operations Research A (4) - Theory or Applications of Computing

ECON-172B - Operations Research B (4) - Theory or Applications of Computing

Education Studies

EDS-124AR - Teaching Computation in the Digital World (4) - Applications of Computing

EDS-124BR - Teaching Computational Thinking for Everyone (4) - Applications of Computing

Electrical & Computer Engineering (ECE)

ECE-111 - Advanced Digital Design Project (4) - Systems

ECE-140A - The Art of Product Engineering I (4) - Systems or Applications of Computing

ECE-140B - The Art of Product Engineering II (4) - Systems or Applications of Computing

ECE-148 - Introduction to Autonomous Vehicles (4) - Applications of Computing

Engineering (Global Ties)

ENG-100D (4) /ENG-100L (2) - Applications of Computing

Principles of Team Engineering: globalties.ucsd.edu

Students may use up to 8 units of ENG-100D/ENG-100L courses towards upper-division CSE Elective credits (as part of the 8 units maximum of CSE-198/199/199H Special Studies courses allowed). You are not able to take ENG-100D twice.
Students may request to have their degree audit updated by contacting the Virtual Advising Center.

Linguistics

LIGN-165 - Computational Linguistics (4) - Applications of Computing

LIGN-167 - Deep Learning for Natural Language Understanding (4) - Applications of Computing

Mathematics

MATH-114 - Introduction to Computational Stochastics (4) - Applications of Computing

MATH-155A - Geometric Computer Graphics (4) - Applications of Computing

MATH-170A - Introduction to Numerical Analysis: Linear Algebra (4) - Theory

MATH-170B - Introduction to Numerical Analysis: Approximation and Nonlinear Equations (4) - Theory

MATH-170C - Introduction to Numerical Analysis: Ordinary Differential Equations (4) - Theory

MATH-171A - Introduction to Numerical Optimization: Linear Programming (4) - Theory or Applications of Computing

MATH-171B - Introduction to Numerical Optimization: Nonlinear Programming (4) - Theory or Applications of Computing

MATH-173A - Optimization Methods for Data Science I (4) - Theory

MATH-173B - Optimization Methods for Data Science II (4) - Theory

MATH-181D - Statistical Learning (4) - Theory

MATH-185 - Introduction to Computational Statistics (4) - Theory

MATH-187A - Introduction to Cryptography (4) - Theory

MATH-189 - Exploratory Data Analysis and Inference (4) - Applications of Computing

Music

MUS-171 - Computer Music I (4) - Applications of Computing

MUS-172 - Computer Music ll (4) - Applications of Computing

MUS-177 - Music Programming (4) - Applications of Computing

Visual Arts

VIS-141A - Computer Programming for the Arts I (4) - Applications of Computing

VIS-141B - Computer Programming for the Arts II (4) - Applications of Computing

Academic Plans:

Academic Planning Worksheet (link to copy a Google Sheet): blank worksheet for students to be able to create a sample long term plan which can be brought to an advising meeting
Sample Plans By College: sample long term plan that includes college requirements

Sample 4 Year Plan:

Year

Fall

Winter

Spring

First Year

CSE-008A or CSE-011*

MATH-020A

Lower Division Elective (LDE)*

CSE-011

CSE-025

MATH-020B

CSE-020*

CSE-012

MATH-020C

Second Year

MATH-018

CSE-021*

CSE-029

CSE-030

CSE-055

Statistics

CSE-100

CSE-101

General Science

Third Year

CSE-150A or 150B

AI 1

Sys 1

CSE-151A

AI 2

Ethics

CSE-151B

AI 3

TH 1

Fourth Year

App 1

Sys 2

App 2

TH 2

Elective 1

*1: Students who do not have programming experience should begin CSE-008A. Students who have programming experience may begin with CSE-011 (take CSE-012 and CSE-029 in the second quarter). Students who take CSE-008A should move on to CSE-011 and then continue in the sequence.

*2: If CSE-008A is taken, the Lower Division Elective (LDE) requirement will be fulfilled.

*3: CSE-020 may be substituted with MATH-109 or MATH-031CH. This is a manual update an advisor needs to make. Send a message through the Virtual Advising Center (VAC).

*4: CSE-021 may be substituted with MATH-154 or MATH-184 or MATH-188*

*5: Open CSE Electives: CSE UD courses, including Special Studies, along with any non-CSE courses that have any of the above tags.

Sample Transfer Plan:

Year

Fall

Winter

Spring

First Year

CSE-021*

CSE-025

CSE-029

CSE-030

CSE-055

CSE-100

CSE-101

Sys 1

App 1

Statistics

Second Year

CSE-150A or 150B

CSE-151A

AI 1

TH 1

CSE-151B

AI 2

TH 2

Ethics

App 2

AI 3

Sys 2

Elective 1

*2: CSE-021 may be substituted with MATH-154 or MATH-184 or MATH-188*

*3: Open CSE Electives: CSE UD courses, including Special Studies, along with any non-CSE courses that have any of the above tags.

Sample 4 Year Plan (Fall 2025 curriculum ONLY):

Year

Fall

Winter

Spring

First Year

CSE-008A or CSE-011*

MATH-020A

Lower Division Elective (LDE)*

CSE-011*

CSE-025

MATH-020B

CSE-020*

CSE-012

MATH-020C

Second Year

MATH-018

CSE-021*

CSE-029

CSE-030

CSE-055

Statistics

CSE-100

CSE-101

General Science

Third Year

CSE-150A or 150B or 151B

AI 1

Sys 1

CSE-151A

AI 2

Ethics

AI 3

TH 1

Fourth Year

App 1

Elective 1

App 2

Elective 2

Sys 2

TH 2

*2: If CSE-008A is taken, the Lower Division Elective (LDE) requirement will be fulfilled.

*3: CSE-020 may be substituted with MATH-109 or MATH-031CH. This is a manual update an advisor needs to make. Send a message through the Virtual Advising Center (VAC).

*4: CSE-021 may be substituted with MATH-154 or MATH-184 or MATH-188*

*5: Open CSE Electives: CSE UD courses, including Special Studies, along with any non-CSE courses that have any of the above tags.

Sample Transfer Plan (Fall 2025 curriculum ONLY):

Year

Fall

Winter

Spring

First Year

CSE-021*

CSE-025

CSE-029

CSE-030

CSE-055

CSE-100

CSE-101

Sys 1

App 1

Statistics

Second Year

CSE-150A or 150B

CSE-151A

AI 1

TH 1

AI 2

TH 2

App 2

Ethics

AI 3

Sys 2

Elective 1

Elective 2

*: CSE-021 may be substituted with MATH-154 or MATH-184 or MATH-188*

*: Open CSE Electives: CSE UD courses, including Special Studies, along with any non-CSE courses that have any of the above tags.

Major restrictions - The following majors may NOT double major or minor in CSE:

- Any majors that fall under the Jacob's School of Engineering

- Data Science majors (DSC-BS-001)

- Math-Computer Science majors (MATH-BS-003)