KUALA LUMPUR - The field of artificial intelligence (AI) should be given extra attention, especially at the tertiary education level, so as to meet the needs of the industry, as well as to explore new areas, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said today.
He said this is because Malaysia has been seen as lagging behind in the field of AI.
Anwar said he had conveyed the matter to Minister of Higher Education Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin and university vice-chancellors to give it priority.
"The gap between our AI qualifications and the highest-level requirements needs attention...Geely mentions that our engineers are very good but require specific expertise in the automotive industry. They had to train 300 engineers at Geely University in Beijing, China.
"...Insya-Allah, I will discuss with them (Geely)...we will ask them to identify the specific disciplines required for us to start training at our local universities,” Anwar said during the Minister’s Question Time at the Dewan Rakyat today.
He said this in reply to Tan Kar Hing (PH-Gopeng) regarding the country's education and training ecosystem's readiness to build local skilled talent to avoid a mismatch between education and high-skilled job opportunities. - BERNAMA