The National Institute of Technology Karnataka (NITK) at Surathkal in Mangaluru taluk will start BTech programme in Artificial Intelligence (AI) from the academic year 2021-22. The Academic Senate, the board of the institute, and the Union Ministry of Education have approved a new four-year BTech programme in AI. The admissions to the programme will be through JEE (Main) score.
K Umamaheshwar Rao, Director of NITK, said that this degree would prepare students for industry by offering specialisations in different areas of AI such as data science, human-centred computing, cyber-physical systems, and robotics.The programme and its curriculum focus on the use of inputs such as video, speech, and big data to make decisions or enhance human capabilities, he said.
NEP thrust
This specialisation empowers students to build intelligent machines, software, or applications with state-of-the-art technology using machine learning, data analytics, and data visualisation technologies.
Stating that AI was a subset of computer science earlier, he said it has grown enough to qualify as a distinctive and a bigger unit in the recent years. As a result, job opportunities for the undergraduates of BTech (AI) courses are different from conventional IT jobs.
Rao said the new course is in conformance with the National Education Policy 2020, which stresses the need to improve the skilled workforce involving mathematics, computer science, and data science, in conjunction with multidisciplinary abilities across the sciences, social sciences, and humanities.