The Kerala government has taken a special step to improve the employability of its technical graduates and professionals in the emerging fields of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML). The Additional Skills Acquisition Programme (ASAP) of the state’s Higher Education department has launched a new AI and ML course for this purpose. 

The 776-hour course is open to recent technical graduates in engineering or MCA, BSc, MSc degree holders and professionals who have a minimum of two years of work experience. The course will cover subjects in the areas of data science, AI and ML to train learners to develop algorithms and machines for gaming, speech recognition, language detection and robotics. "Candidates can academically explore research areas in AI-Machine Learning and they can also explore job opportunities as AI-Machine Learning consultant or specialist," said a note from the ASAP.

The course, which follows the 'blended learning' approach, will be imparted by industry experts. Apart from classes, hands-on learning will be encouraged through hackathons, community meetups, industry interactions and mentor clinics. The training will be conducted at the B-Hub co-learning space at Nalanchira in the capital and also be offered in online mode.

The course contains 259 learning credits, over 65 certificates, soft-skill workshops, an internship with prominent industries and project guidance by industry experts. 

Interested candidates can enrol for an online entrance test which will gauge the candidate’s grasp on calculus, matrices, probability and also their reasoning and basic programming skills. The course is worth Rs 77,600 which has to be paid online, in two instalments. Further details can be received by contacting asdc@asapkerala.gov.in.