"Designing AI systems requires a hard-to-come-by blend of high-level mathematics and statistical understanding, a grounding in data science and computer programming".
EDIT: Improved readability
Not even Calculus or Linear Algebra? Do they take Discrete Math?
I assume parent meant "beyond the standard discrete/calc required of any reasonable cs major".
[1] http://collegecatalog.uchicago.edu/thecollege/computerscienc...
We must take Calculus 1 and 2, Discrete Math, Probability and Statistics 1, and Linear Algebra.
We can get a Math minor if we take 3 additional math courses, which is what i'm doing with Combinatorics, Graph Theory, and some other math course.
Of course, as a physicist myself I fervently believe this is good and well, and the path towards enlightenment for all mankind etc.
I was generally on an upward climb on the ladder of abstraction (Electronics Tech -> EE -> CS -> Math), but the early engineering bent meant that I needed a few physics classes, and despite settling on the math degree, I still think the handful of physics classes I took were some of the best education I've had. It's an interesting confluence of abstract reasoning, practical concerns, model-building, and problem solving. It's not as if choosing math made that confluence unavailable to me, or that I really regret it, but I do sometimes think the particular balance a good physics program strikes might have been better for me.
The engineering / science math was pretty much a matter of looking at the problem, guessing its "form," and applying a known technique based on that form. For instance, "this looks like integration by parts." Eventually you'll be shoved out into the world where there are problems for which there is no known solution, and you have to create your own techniques.
The more advanced courses did two things. First, they set aside problems and advanced towards proofs. This is really where math came alive for me. Proofs are so much more varied that you have to abandon the security of a bag full of known tricks. The other thing is that the derivations get longer, so you have to develop a longer train of thought, if you will.
Courses that were higher-level were like:
abstract algebra
complex analysis
real analysis
topology
I don't know what new goodies there are, but I'd love to dive back into it again.