The new undergrad offering will be part of Carnegie Mellon's School of Computer Science. Students will still have to be admitted as part of the CS program and will only be able to choose whether to major in artificial intelligence in their second year. Computer Science dean Andrew Moore said in a statement:

"Specialists in artificial intelligence have never been more important, in shorter supply or in greater demand by employers. Carnegie Mellon has an unmatched depth of expertise in AI, making us uniquely qualified to address this need for graduates who understand how the power of AI can be leveraged to help people."

Reid Simmons, the new AI program director, explained that the degree will focus "on how complex inputs -- such as vision, language and huge databases -- are used to make decisions or enhance human capabilities." However, it will also emphasize ethics and social responsibility to encourage students to use AI for social good, such as improving healthcare and transportation.

The undergrad degree will launch this fall and will be offered as an option to incoming second- and third-year students. Anyone interested will have to face stiff competition, though: the university will only accept 100 students overall into the program.

*Update: We were told that the Milwaukee School of Engineering announced a Computer Science degree focused on artificial intelligence before Carnegie Mellon did. Both institutions' new programs will launch this fall, so you know which schools to look at if you want to major in AI.