Indian Institute of Technology-Hyderabad (IIT-H) on Thursday announced the launch of a full-fledged bachelor's programme in Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology from the new academic session, a first for the country and only the third globally.

IIT-H is already offering an Masters in Technology programme in AI-Machine Learning (ML). Besides IIT, Carnegie Mellon University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), both of which are in the US, offer full-fledged B.Tech programmes in AI. 

The new course will have 20 seats and the eligibility is clearing the JEE-Advanced test.

"AI solutions are particularly promising for India (given the availability of a large corpus of data) where it can have a major positive impact on several critical domains such as healthcare, crop and soil management, weather prediction, surveillance and security, and defence," Sumohana Channappayya, Dean (Research and Development), IIT-H, said in a statement.

"However, the demand for professionals trained in this area far exceeds the current supply. The B.Tech programme in AI is a step in the direction of addressing this highly skewed demand-supply scenario," Channappayya added.

Further, Channappayya noted that the potential for AI to improve the quality of human lives is tremendous. This program will train students in the fundamentals of computer science, AI and ML, in addition to sensitising them to the ethical issues in deploying AI-based solutions.

The course will also focus on application verticals such as healthcare, agriculture, smart mobility, among many others.

Students pursuing other degrees such as B.Tech in Chemical Engineering or Mechanical Engineering can now do a minor in AI as well from the coming academic year, the statement said.