AI: Where demand for courses is high, but supply of teachers, poor
The number of courses on AI has grown proportionately. According to estimates, there are 800 B.Tech. courses on AI offered by institutions across India, said Balaraman Ravindran, head, Department of Data Science and Artificial Intelligence, Indian Institute of Technology-Madras. However, there aren't enough faculty members with a qualified AI background to teach these courses. Besides, Computer Science, which provides the foundational tools for AI, does not form the core component of the emerging field since AI requires heavy reliance on mathematical concepts and principles to develop algorithms, he said.
It is, therefore, pertinent that faculty members teaching AI have to be from an AI background or should equip themselves through Faculty Development Programmes (FDPs).
Subalalitha C.N., professor, Department of Computing Technologies, SRM Institute of Science and Technology (SRMIST), concurred with this view. SRMIST offers 10 different AI courses, and finding faculty members has been a challenge. 'Certifications and FDPs are the ways through which the faculty members are equipping themselves, especially since more students are opting for AI courses,' she said.
There is also a move towards integrating AI with other core engineering subjects. Such multidisciplinary approach, she said, has also attracted funding from institutions. 'AI is full of maths. All algorithms have core mathematics in their background. Hence, the integration is easy,' she said. Also, the requirements of different professionals working on AI — researchers, faculty members, or developers — are different. Those developing applications may not require heavy reliance on mathematics, but those developing language models would require it. 'They would align according to their priority or preference,' she added.
The dearth of AI teachers is a matter of concern. Experts say collaboration with industry could bridge the gap to some extent, but there should be a road map for faculty development. Besides the training programmes for the faculty members, efforts are needed to attract talented youngsters proficient in AI to academics.
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