"100 New AI Courses Established"… Chinese Universities' AI Education Enthusiasm 'Burning Bright'

According to the local state-run English newspaper Global Times on the 5th (local time), AI education is thriving mainly on Chinese university campuses.

According to the report, Fudan University in Shanghai plans to offer more than 60 AI courses this fall semester and at least 100 courses next year. Based on the AI education systems of prestigious overseas universities such as Stanford University, Carnegie Mellon University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the learning objectives include vertical applications ranging from basic AI courses to essential and thematic advanced courses.

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

Fudan University also plans to specify requirements for cultivating AI capabilities in the research plans of each degree program starting from the freshman year. Currently, it has hired 64 professors from more than 10 universities and research institutes. According to the university’s website, Fudan has 15,303 undergraduate students and 36,690 graduate students.

Chen Yan, Vice Dean of the Graduate School at Fudan University, explained, "Our goal is not just to establish an AI research institute but to mobilize all students to build an innovative ecosystem of science and intelligence." Xiao Yanghua, a professor in the Department of Computer Science at Fudan University, stated, "AI research and development is related not only to individual digital capabilities but also to major issues such as human survival and development. AI provides a key opportunity to reconstruct traditional humanities, so integrating AI into various other curricula is essential to redefine education suitable for the new era."

Currently, Chinese education authorities have set a vision to nurture AI talent that will lead innovation and growth across emerging industries. In response, major universities in China are competing to foster AI talent. Nanjing University started a general AI education course in February to cultivate AI utilization skills for all freshmen. Recently, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications also announced that all undergraduate freshmen enrolling this year will receive general AI education training, including computing introduction and design thinking.

Zhu Longsheng, an expert at the International Security Strategy Center of Tsinghua University, said, "(China) is striving to integrate AI into everyday curricula not only in universities but also in (middle and high) schools," and evaluated, "Training AI talent means ensuring that people with cutting-edge technology can adapt to the AI era even after leaving school, and in the long term, sowing the seeds of technological innovation that will help the country's AI industry development."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.