IIIT-H launches programme for AI, machine learning

The International Institute of Information Technology-Hyderabad (IIIT-H) on Tuesday announced the launch of a programme in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) for technology professionals.

IIIT-Hyderabad's Machine Learning Laboratory in partnership with TalentSprint will offer the four-month programme on foundations of AI and ML from January 2018 to address rising demand.

The fee for the programme called 'Foundations of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning' will be between Rs1.5 lakh and Rs2 lakh. The institute expects 1,000 students for the specialised course in the first year.

P J Narayanan, director of IIIT-H, told reporters that the first batch will have 300 students. The number will be scaled up to 500 as technology professionals are increasingly feeling the need to re-skill themselves in the IT industry.

As one of the largest AI research clusters in the country, the institute is seeing a rising demand from the industry for AI and ML advisory services, technology prototypes and capacity building, he said.

American research and advisory firm Gartner Inc has forecast the creation of 2.3 million jobs in AI, ML, and Deep Learning (DL) within three years. The hands-on teaching approach will enable engineers in industry to build deep ML programming capabilities in their companies, according to Narayanan.

"We expect to train at least 1,000 professionals in 2-3 offerings in the first year. We will work on how to scale up the intake going forward as we anticipate a large demand for this programme," P J Narayanan said.

IT companies in India have already launched in-house programmes to re-skill their work force as they get down to reshaping their operations in line with the changing global trends, while several Indian Institutes of Technology ( IITs) have academic and research programmes in these new technologies.

However, the four-month foundation programme designed by IIIT-Hyderabad is a first-ever independent academic initiative aimed at re-skilling the working professionals in AI, ML and Deep Learning (DL), which are increasingly becoming central to products, services and businesses around the globe.

IIIT-Hyderabad has found itself in great demand ever since Indian businesses felt the significance of these new technologies in the past couple of years.

IIIT-H has a team of 25 faculty members specialised in AI-ML, by far the largest team in the country, according to Narayanan.