Minister of Education Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀), along with representatives of 25 universities, yesterday announced the establishment of the Taiwan Artificial Intelligence College Alliance to enable students to take intercollegiate courses on artificial intelligence (AI) and obtain certificates.
The alliance, which begins official operations in the academic year starting this month, aims to prepare more than 10,000 students with AI-related expertise in the next three years, Cheng said.
In response to an urgent demand for AI talent in Taiwan’s technology industry, universities should have AI-related undergraduate courses, Cheng said, adding that the strategy must move from competition between universities, to intercollegiate cooperation and the forming of a “Team Taiwan.”
.Photo: Rachel Lin, Taipei Times
The alliance is led by the Ministry of Education and several universities, with National Taiwan University, National Tsing Hua University and National Cheng Kung University as the main institutions participating in the initial stage, while other universities would have an opportunity to join later, he said.
With the alliance’s launch, AI learning resources would be popularized in universities across the nation, and if students from other countries in the region want to learn about AI, Taiwan would be the best destination for them, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said.
Based on the idea of “it takes a village to raise a child,” the ministry spent two months coordinating with top AI academics to overcome initial difficulties, Yeh said.
Students who complete the required courses would receive a program certificate from the ministry, he added.
“Industries can look for this certificate when they recruit AI talent,” he said.
The alliance plans to open four programs: AI exploration and application, AI industrial application, AI and natural language processing, and AI and visual technology application, Yeh said.
Each program would have five required courses, totaling 15 credits, and the maximum number of students for each course is set at 1,500, which could increase as more universities join the alliance, he said.
The alliance would have leading courses, satellite courses and regular courses, provided through an online digital learning platform, and students can interact with course instructors if they take the course synchronously, or with teaching assistants if they take them asynchronously, he said.
IBM Consulting, Taiwan manager Han Lin (林翰則) said the industry has a positive attitude about the alliance, and supports its establishment.
The alliance can integrate AI educational resources from universities across the nation to cultivate talent to meet a shortage of workers with AI specializations, he said.
IBM Consulting, Taiwan students who obtained the alliance’s certificate would be seen as having expertise in AI, so the company would consider recruiting them first, Lin said.
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