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China’s Fudan University has announced ambitious plans to offer a string of artificial intelligence (AI) courses to students in the coming months, aiming to become the leading digital university in mainland China.
The university plans to launch over 100 AI courses for its students across several faculties, with a focus on competing globally with its peers. The university administrators are taking a measured approach to the launch, with early plans to offer 60 courses.
The first tranche of AI courses is expected to roll in at the start of the fall semester, scheduled for late August, while the rest will be introduced in the coming months. Rolling out 100 AI-based courses has triggered massive speculation that the university could be pivoting to a rebrand as an AI institution.
However, university authorities said the intent is not to operate as an AI institute but to contribute to the digitization of mainland China. Chen Yan, Executive Vice Dean of the institution, confirmed in his media statement that the courses are designed to deepen the AI talent pool to support China’s quest for global dominance in the sector.
“We are not establishing an artificial intelligence institute, but mobilizing all students to aim at the construction of a scientific intelligence innovation ecosystem,” said Yan.
For now, details surrounding the courses remain sparse, but insiders with knowledge of the matter claim that the courses will be tailor-made for each degree program. Each course will begin with a general introduction to AI, delving into large language models (LLMs) before pivoting to specific industry applications.
Fudan University is not the first institution in China to launch AI courses for students, with several researchers opting to narrow their focus on AI. In March, a coalition of researchers backed by the Chinese government launched Supermind to track global AI developments across the globe.
With its repository of thousands of AI researchers and papers, Supermind is expected to contribute to Chinese universities’ attempts to pivot to AI.
Rising enterprise applications
Several studies are tracking the utility of AI across several industries, with a majority confirming impressive adoption rates for AI and other emerging technologies. Automobile manufacturers are experimenting with AI for autonomous driving capabilities, while robotics firms are merging their androids with LLMs for improved functionalities.
Since Chinese authorities issued a green light for the commercial rollout of AI applications, consumers have been flooded with a barrage of offerings from leading technology firms in the country. Outside consumer applications, the government is probing AI military use cases while expanding its capacities.
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