punctuation - Should I use commas or semi-colons in this multi-item list within a sentence?


In the following sentence, I am listing multiple areas of study. Should they be separated by commas or semi-colons?


"In my exposure to this field so far, I have come to appreciate just how multi-disciplinary it is, requiring knowledge in a number of key areas, including the science and technology of robot motion-planning and control; sensing and perception; and artificial intelligence."


In this sentence, the items being listed are: 1) the science and technology of robot motion-planning and control 2) sensing and perception 3) artificial intelligence


Each item is part of the same area of study; hence the pairing of multiple subjects with 'and' in items (1) and (2). If commas are used to separate the items, it's hard to tell whether any given 'and' is ending the list of items, of if it is part of a single item. So I think semi-colons should be used. Is this correct?




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