The Kharagpur-based Indian Institute of Technology (IIT-KGP) announced it is set to launch a six-month Artificial Intelligence (AI) course at three centres in the country. The IIT-KGP Director said that the certified programme intends to strengthen India’s talent pool in machine learning and AI.
The course is scheduled to begin in March this year, initially at Kharagpur, Bangalore, Kolkata and, possibly, Hyderabad.
In 2018, IIT-Kharagpur set up a Centre for Artificial Intelligence. According to its website, the centre was established in recognition of the increasing role AI has in India’s job sector. The centre leverages more than three decades of research in fundamental and applied AI.
In line with the aim of the centre, the Institute has begun training engineers in AI and machine learning, launching outreach programmes and this six-month course.
For the course, 300 students will be selected competitively from working professionals and senior students. It consists 16 twelve-hour long course modules. The head of the Centre said that the classes will be taken by IIT-KGP faculty, reputed academic institutions, and industry experts.
The IIT-KGP faculty and academics will make up 60% of the teaching staff, while industry experts will account for 40%.
The course modules have been designed to cover mathematical and algorithmic foundations, AI fundamentals, statistics, and machine learning methods. The classes will be a combination of essential theoretical principles, practical hands-on elements, and industry use cases. The students will have the opportunity to work on live projects.
The head of the Centre stated that every course module will be based on assignments and exams. A certificate will be awarded on the basis of the successful completion of each module.
Students will be introduced to tools and platforms to improve their technical competence and ready them for jobs, which will strengthen the country’s AI workforce.
In India, the demand for AI technologies and AI-skilled professionals is growing. This course is a step to bridging this gap.
According to a recent report, 4,000 AI-related positions are currently available to be filled in India.
It said that the country’s AI Industry is currently estimated to be US $230 million (annual) in revenue, up from US $180M last year. Compared to global estimates, India contributes 10% of open job openings.
The top skill sets that AI employers are looking for are machine learning, natural language processing, neural networks, data analytics, cloud computing, and pattern recognition.
In terms of cities, Bengaluru makes up around 33% of AI jobs in India- down from 37% last year. Delhi is second, accounting for 30% AI jobs, an increase from 23% last year. Around 12% of AI jobs are from Mumbai, almost the same as last year, the report said.