SINGAPORE - Students interested in artificial intelligence (AI), computing and data science can enrol in Nanyang Technological University’s (NTU) new college from the new academic year beginning in August.
The College of Computing and Data Science aims to provide students with industry-relevant degree programmes that will enable them to become both comfortable and fluent in AI, said NTU in a statement on Feb 19.
It added that the college also hopes to encourage interdisciplinary learning through collaboration with other non-science, technology, engineering and mathematics (non-Stem) colleges and schools.
More than 4,800 students are expected to be enrolled in this new college, which will house the existing nine undergraduate and five graduate programmes under NTU’s School of Computer Science and Engineering.
All other new AI, computing and data science-related modules and degree programmes offered by the new college will fall under its three academic divisions – AI, data science and computing, NTU said.
These include the newly announced Bachelor of Science in AI and Society, an interdisciplinary degree programme in AI that allows students to choose electives offered by non-Stem colleges and schools, including the College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, and Nanyang Business School.
Leading the new college is the founding dean, Professor Luke Ong, who will take on the role of vice-president of AI and digital economy at the university. He will step down from his current role as NTU’s vice-president of research on May 1.
NTU president Ho Teck Hua said: “As artificial intelligence becomes a general-purpose technology that reshapes our world, universities like NTU have a responsibility to educate students to be conversant with AI so they thrive, and to help make sure technologies evolve the right way to make the world better.”
New industry-relevant courses, like a Master of Science in AI with a specialisation in generative AI, will be launched as part of NTU’s continuing education and training efforts, NTU said.
Research platforms, such as a Generative AI Lab and an Institute of Computing and Society, will also be established to encourage collaboration between computing and other disciplines, it added.
Prof Ong, who is also the chief scientist for AI Singapore, the Republic’s national research programme, said: “AI technologies may pose several risks and challenges, but also opportunities when properly utilised, such as taking away the drudge work so that we can focus our time and effort where it is most valuable.”
Other than NTU, the Singapore University of Technology and Design, National University of Singapore (NUS), Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT) and SIM Global Education through the University of London also offer courses in AI.
SIT in 2022 launched the Bachelor of Science in Applied Artificial Intelligence, where students learn to implement AI within software systems, while NUS has made AI a compulsory introductory course for all computer science students in anticipation of the growth of the technology.