Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi has set up an independent School of Artificial Intelligence (ScAI). The school, which has come up in the institute’s campus, will commence its PhD programme from the next admission cycle, January 2021. IIT-Delhi is also planning to offer postgraduate level degree courses.
The institute aims to form a group of more than 50 IIT-Delhi faculty members who have experience in various aspects of the field. In order to increase global visibility, the cohesive group in Artificial Intelligence will work on focused hiring of faculty members and students.
IIT claims that this school will be a one-stop center for industry or government interested in working together or funding AI innovations and will also be focusing on providing a platform for government, civil society entities and industry to come up with problems in their domain. IIT-Delhi faculty with the relevant expertise will look into that problem.
The institute expects to hire at least 20 core faculty members in the next 10 years for ScAI.
Through the school, IIT aims to strengthen its place on the global map of AI.
A nation’s future progress will depend on its AI capability, said V Ramgopal Rao, Director, IIT-Delhi.
He also highlighted that India stands at the fifth position globally both in terms of the most number of AI companies and AI jobs, but the country is lagging behind when it comes to the number of AI researchers in the country and the overall quality and quantity of AI research.
Initially, the institute will focus on postgraduate level and initiating educational programs focused on AI. Once a critical mass of core AI researchers is produced, then it will introduce professional level educational programs.
According to Rao, a AI programme is needed because current degrees are broad-based and thus do not make it easy for students to learn the different areas within AI. He also asserted that the demand for skilled AI practitioners globally is strong.
ScAI will have core faculty, joint faculty and adjunct faculty members, offering a flexible faculty model. Adjunct members may also be from the industry.
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