The world’s first AI university
Over the past year, artificial intelligence (AI) has taken the world by storm—you can hardly go five minutes without hearing someone bringing AI up in a conversation.
This rise has been fuelled by tools such as ChatGPT, which has made AI accessible to everyone and not just those with a tech background.
With every business racing to integrate AI policies and tools into their operations, cybersecurity firms like Darktrace expect significant growth. The company, for the financial year of 2024, expects its revenue to reach $689.5m (£548.71).
Now there is the world’s first university focused exclusively on AI.
The Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI) in Abu Dhabi was officially licensed in March 2020 and now has 365 active students from 45 countries.
Why has this been established in Abu Dhabi and not elsewhere, such as the UK?
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has been on a mission to become a global power in AI. As reported by Telecom Review, its private sector is expected to invest around AED335 bn (£72.6bn) in AI by 2031.
In the UK, however, the government seems to be going the other way. In August, the government announced plans to back 98 AI projects across the country with an injection of £32m, but only after scrapping plans for a £1.3bn supercomputer.
This move was criticised as “idiotic” and a potential catalyst for a tech brain drain to the US by the chairman of 4J Studios, Chris van der Kuyl.
World’s first Uni focused on AI
MBZUAI is the world’s first graduate-level, research-focused university dedicated to AI.
It offers Master of Science (MSc) and PhD programmes in computer science, computer
vision, machine learning, natural language processing, and robotics.
The university is on a mission to attract international students.
Its sales pitch is that it offers students the opportunity to engage in groundbreaking AI research, with access to state-of-the-art facilities and leading AI experts.
The university provides experience across fields such as healthcare, education, and energy.
Its Incubation and Entrepreneurship Centre (MIEC) is designed to help students turn their ideas into startups, bridging the gap between research and real-world applications.
Additionally, graduates are also eligible for Abu Dhabi’s golden visa, which is a long-term residence visa valid for up to ten years.
Commenting on its plans, Professor Timothy Baldwin, stated that “a key factor in attracting international students and faculty to MBZUAI is the university’s reputation for diversity and inclusion, its research capabilities, compulsory internships and the introduction and success of the Undergraduate Research Internship Programme.”