Minister of Science and Higher Education Sayasat Nurbek announced that training of specialists in the field of artificial intelligence has already begun at 20 universities in Kazakhstan, a Kazinform correspondent reports.
At the Digital Almaty forum, Sayasat Nurbek presented the
artificial intelligence development strategy created by the Ministry, inspired
by Finland’s successful model.
This initiative is based on the Elements of AI project,
developed in 2017 by the University of Helsinki together with Google. Thanks to
this project, 10% of the country’s adult population was able to master the
basic principles of AI and integrate them into everyday life without diving
into complex algorithms and mathematical models. This enabled people, primarily
entrepreneurs, to significantly improve time management by automating routine
processes and greatly speeding up work with client databases.
— Inspired by this program, we decided to go further. For
almost a year and a half, which is quite a long time by today’s standards, we
developed a large-scale program on artificial intelligence. Already this year,
more than 20 innovative curricula have been launched at 20 of our universities,
and over 2,000 students — bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral students — are now
studying under these programs. But most importantly, this course, which we
developed together with Google, will become mandatory for all students in
Kazakhstan, — said Sayasat Nurbek.
Currently, 680,000 students are enrolled in Kazakhstan’s
higher education system.
— Starting from the new academic year, all full-time
students in the higher education system will be required to complete the
training and receive a certificate from Google, with which we jointly developed
this course. As a result, we will have a large number of specialists with
industry-specific knowledge — accountants, lawyers, energy specialists,
mechanical engineers, and international law experts — but with one important
skill: the ability to use artificial intelligence to automate certain processes
without deeply immersing themselves in its technical aspects, — he explained.
He noted that thanks to this approach, every graduate
will be able to become successful and later integrate innovative processes into
their own field.
In addition, the minister said that training specialists
in artificial intelligence requires more than just laptops and computers — it
also needs powerful computing resources. Therefore, supercomputers will be
installed at three national universities: Al-Farabi Kazakh National University,
Gumilyov Eurasian National University, and Satbayev Kazakh National Technical
University.
The Ministry is currently cooperating with the world’s
largest technology companies, including Google, Nvidia, Coursera, Binance,
Lenovo, and others.
— To date, 93 universities in Kazakhstan have been
granted full access to Coursera’s course database, where students can choose
elective courses and receive certificates and credits. We are the first country
to introduce such a credit mechanism for Coursera courses, — said Sayasat
Nurbek.
The head of the Ministry of Science also spoke about a
new unique program called AI-Sana, aimed at the comprehensive development of
students’ skills in the field of artificial intelligence. It was developed with
the participation of international experts, and a leading role in its formation
was played by Paul Kim, Chief Technology Officer and Associate Dean of the
Stanford Graduate School of Education. The pilot project will cover 100,000
participants, focusing on unlocking AI’s potential in the national economy and
supporting technological entrepreneurship.
— We will create a huge funnel in which the entire higher
education system will be trained in technological aspects and entrepreneurial
skills specifically in the field of artificial intelligence. Why do we believe
this program will bring such great added value? Right now AI promises a lot,
but it has not yet reached the level of business — restaurants and small
companies. For most people, artificial intelligence remains something
large-scale, highly technological, and national in scope. At present, it is the
domain of huge tech giants and states that invest billions and trillions of
dollars... But what should ordinary people who are simply watching all this do?
We want to bring these complex technologies down to the most basic level so
that our graduates can automate simple routine processes, — he emphasized.
Sayasat Nurbek noted that this large funnel will be
created in partnership with the Ministry of Digital Development, and it will
pass through incubation and acceleration programs at Astana Hub, the new AI
center being built in Astana, as well as through regional hubs in 20 regions
and 20 programming schools that are being launched jointly with regional
universities.
— As a pilot, we are starting with 100,000 students, from
whom we plan to form 1,000 to 1,500 teams. As a result, we will gain a huge
number of students and young entrepreneurs with skills in AI. The program will
expand every year, with 2 to 3 priority sectors added annually. This year, we
are covering sectors such as education, agriculture, and natural resource
management, including energy and sustainable energy. Therefore, we are open to
all proposals and ready to cooperate with industrial enterprises that are looking
for qualified personnel in these fields, — said the head of the Ministry of
Science.
Earlier, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev instructed the
Government to begin introducing artificial intelligence tools into government
agencies and national companies. He also spoke about the importance of the
AI-Sana artificial intelligence training program, aimed at developing human
capital and shifting universities from a purely educational model to a
research-oriented approach.