University of Baghdad to establish AI-focused college

Artificial intelligence department of Iraq's largest university will focus on engineering, biomedical and 'big data'

The University of Baghdad's AI-focused college will be inaugurated in the upcoming academic year. AP

The University of Baghdad in Iraq will establish a college dedicated to artificial intelligence, according to a ministerial order issued on Monday.

It comes as countries throughout the Middle East seek to become major players in the booming AI sector, which is at the centre of unprecedented investment and interest.

Naeem Al Aboudi, Iraq's Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, said the decision to have a specific college at the University of Baghdad dedicated to AI was part of a larger “strategic vision to develop the Iraqi academic system and keep pace with global digital and knowledge transformations”.

According to the news release, the AI-focused portion of the University will begin in the upcoming academic year, and will focus on AI as it applies to “engineering, biomedical applications and big data”. Estimates indicate that between 60,000 and 70,000 students are enrolled in the University of Baghdad.

In common with other countries in the Middle East, Iraq sees AI as an opportunity to diversify its economy away from oil. Experts warn, however, that AI could disrupt labour in the short term.

The ministerial order for the creation of the University of Baghdad's AI college. Photo: Iraq Minister of Education

Emphasising AI in universities is seen as a way to blunt the impact of labour disruption, helping to prepare students for a new economy. The University of Baghdad is not alone in its endeavour to formally incorporate AI into higher education.

In 2019, before AI was dominating headlines, the UAE announced plans to establish of the Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI), the world's first higher learning institution dedicated to AI. MBZUAI opened the following year.

AI projects and programmes throughout the Middle East have helped to place a greater emphasis on the inclusion of Arabic and other cultural aspects that might have otherwise been left out of the technology development, which initially focused on English and Western data.