The Director of IIT Mandi, Laxmidhar Behera has said that despite the growth in AI by leaps and bounds, it cannot supersede and replace the fundamental engineering education.
Why AI Cannot replace Educational Systems?
He highlighted AI’s current incapability to impart scientific concepts to students and hence also suggesting there is not any immediate need to restructure the engineering curricula.
He said that “As of now, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and related tools have not reached a stage where they can adequately educate our students on scientific concepts and possibilities.”
He elaborated his claim by saying that the challenges are due the limited understanding of the human cognitive processed when it comes to the development of AI-driven educational systems.
As per Behera, what impedes the creation of comprehensive AI educational systems is the enigma around individuals having different capacities to comprehend mathematics.
Preserving Core Engineering Principles in the Age of AI
Behera also described that ChatGPT is innovative but its scope is limited in understanding since essentially it aggregates information from extensive datasets without genuine comprehension.
He said that the AI systems heavily rely on the pre-established frameworks and data repositories and lack inherent cognitive capabilities due to which at the moment it cannot replace the foundational tenets of engineering.
While acknowledging AI’s potential to refine processes, he asserted that the same cannot usurp engineering discipline entirely.
The notion of complete curriculum overhaul was dismissed by Behera, he emphasized that engineers need to be adept in core concepts of engineering, especially when it comes to crucial fields like construction and infrastructure.
While throwing light in IIT Mandi’s expansion strategy, he said that for over the next half decade, the institution plans to bolster faculty as well as student numbers. Additionally, initiatives include the construction of new infrastructure, facilitated by funding from the Ministry of Education.
In nutshell, the director of esteemed institute highlighted the importance of preserving core engineering tenets amid the evolving landscape of technological innovations, led and proliferated by largely by AI.
