Advances in artificial intelligence are giving rise to revolutionary innovations and practical applications that continuously support scientific work, whether in medicine, engineering, the natural sciences, or the social sciences. There is a growing demand from both the academic sphere and industry for high-quality, practice-oriented training programs that go beyond the basics and state-of-the-art methods, focusing instead on the application of knowledge in real-world contexts. The international forum held recently at the Faculty of Computer Science at the University of Debrecen sought to meet this expectation while simultaneously combining insights derived from scientific research with the opportunities and demands of practical application.
In his opening remarks at the conference, Dean András Hajdu emphasized: the goal of the International AI Doctoral Academy (AIDA) is to bring together universities, researchers, faculty, and students working in the field of artificial intelligence, as well as to make high-level AI knowledge and education more accessible across institutions and national borders.
- In such a rapidly evolving field, no single university or research group can work in complete isolation. We must share our knowledge, educational resources, and expertise with one another, and we must create opportunities for young researchers to become part of an international community. This approach is also closely aligned with the goal we aim to achieve through the International AI Doctoral Academy’s (AICET) summer school. Our goal is not merely to provide AI education, but to create a medium where we can learn about cutting-edge technology, understand the scientific principles behind these developments, and, at the same time, gain practical experience with these technologies- emphasized the department head.
Ioannis Pitas, a professor at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and president of AIDA, also attended the meeting. He said that, in addition to strengthening doctoral programs in artificial intelligence, the organization’s most important mission is to share educational resources, host high-quality academic lectures, and foster international collaborations.
- Six years ago, there were hardly any departments or undergraduate programs specializing in artificial intelligence; by 2023, however, we had identified about 300 such programs, and today there are more than 600 worldwide. We are seeing exponential growth in AI education, which reflects the enormous demand. These programs were established in a fairly spontaneous manner, often in response to market needs; as a result, there is no standardized, mandatory curriculum for bachelor’s or master’s programs. However, we have developed what is known as the AIDA AI curriculum, which is a broad collection of foundational and application-oriented courses from which an AI training program can be assembled- the professor explained.
The event also provided an opportunity to take industrial certification exams. The wide-ranging technical presentations at the symposium covered topics such as the potential applications of decentralized DNN architectures for visual data analysis, practical experiences with visual computer models used in security and surveillance, results of 3D animation of the human face and body, the use of generative AI in the workplace, professional communication regarding technology, digital marketing, the latest challenges in autonomous driving, trends in digital twins and integrated modeling applicable to climate and air quality, environmental applications of AI, and the development of autonomous AI applications.
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