GS 3: Science & Technology | Awareness in the fields of IT, Space, Computers, robotics, nano-technology, bio-technology

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The Indian Institute of Technology-Hyderabad (IIT-H) has announced the launch of a full-fledged bachelor’s programme in Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology from the new academic session, which is a first for the country and only the third globally.

Highlights:

The Institute was already offering a Masters in Technology programme in AI-Machine Learning (ML). Besides IIT- Hyderabad, only Carnegie Mellon University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), both of which are in the US, offer full-fledged B.Tech programmes in AI.The new course will have 20 seats and the eligibility will include clearing the JEE-Advanced test.The AI solutions are particularly promising for India, given the availability of a large corpus of data, where it can have a major positive impact on several critical domains such as healthcare, crop and soil management, weather prediction, surveillance and security, and defence.However, the demand for professionals trained in this area exceeds the current supply.Hence, the B.Tech programme in AI is a step in the direction of addressing this highly skewed demand-supply scenario.The course will focus on application verticals such as healthcare, agriculture, smart mobility, among many others.The students pursuing other degrees such as B.Tech in Chemical Engineering or Mechanical Engineering will be able to do a minor in AI as well from the coming academic year.