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A Chinese university has become the first institution in the country to make artificial intelligence a compulsory module for students in?all departments.

Nanjing University, in Jiangsu province, ?its plan for an ¡°artificial intelligence general core module system¡± at the end of February. From September onwards, undergraduate students will take an AI module as a compulsory part of their degree, in a bid to nurture ¡°master-level strategic scientists¡± with an AI-literate, innovative and interdisciplinary approach.

This ¡°1+X+Y¡± course consists of lectures, seminars, internship and AI teaching assistance. Selective X modules will cover skills and subjects related to AI, such as mathematics, programming and data analytics. In contrast, Y modules will focus on cutting-edge knowledge combining AI and different subjects.

After China prioritised artificial intelligence development as a??in 2017, it has become popular for higher education institutions to invest in AI-related subjects, in line with the country¡¯s??for this sector. Although Chinese institutions hold?cautious attitudes?towards students¡¯ usage of AI tools such as ChatGPT, nearly 500 institutions have created an AI-related major in the past few years.

It is hard to predict whether more universities have similar plans, because there has been controversy over artificial intelligence courses in higher education. A widely cited discussion is when Gao Wen, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and a professor at Peking University, said at an event in 2018 that China does not lack AI talent but top AI talent.

¡°There is no need to launch a national movement for this. If we create a bunch of artificial intelligence colleges like we did with software colleges, it might be another disaster. I think cultivating top AI talent requires some top schools and more resources to train better students,¡± he said.

karen.liu@timeshighereducation.com