A university in Metro Manila is launching a brand new four-year degree this coming school year focused entirely on artificial intelligence.
The University of Asia and the Pacific, or UA&P, will offer the Bachelor of Science in Artificial Intelligence under its School of Sciences, Engineering, and Technology. The program teaches students how to build AI systems that run on local equipment or through cloud computing.
A study from the International Labor Organization earlier reported that around 12.7 million jobs across the Philippines could be affected by the rise of generative AI. The university wants to help fill the gap by training students for the new kinds of work that AI creates.
During the first two years, students will take classes that are very similar to what IT and Data Science majors take, with nearly 90 percent of the coursework overlapping. Things get more specialized in the third year, when working tech professionals come to class and present real problems for students to solve.
The program includes heavy lab work using modern software. Students also study how to use AI responsibly, including how to spot unfair bias in algorithms and how to follow the rules when deploying AI systems.
A special Edge computing lab gives students a chance to work on actual projects with real companies. This helps them build skills that match what the fast-changing digital economy needs.
The university is not aiming to produce entry level workers who just handle simple automation tasks. Instead, they want to train what they call “AI Architects” and applied engineers, people who can build smart reasoning systems from the ground up.
After finishing the degree, graduates can look for jobs in fields like machine learning, data science, software engineering, AI product development, and tech consulting. They can also find work in global capability centers, IT and business process outsourcing companies, large local businesses, and tech startups.