Chinese and international students experience a voice recognition product at iFly Tek, July 13, one of China's largest tech companies engaged in artificial intelligence. [Photo by Zhang Rui/Xinhua]

Education on artificial intelligence (AI) is skyrocketing in Jiangsu province. 

With the prestigious Nanjing University having announcing in March that it will set up a specialized AI school, various other local higher learning institutions have also clarified their plans for AI education. 

"In the era of AI technologies – such as computer vision, machine learning and natural language processing – making unprecedented contributions to development, the demand for AI professionals keeps increasing," said Chen Songcan, a professor at the Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics (NUAA). 

NUAA recently put forward a series of AI education plans, which according to Chen, will sharpen the school's existing advantage in unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), such as discerning the machine's "eyesight" and making it more agile in flying. 

Professor Yang Jian from Nanjing University of Science and Technology was also glad to see the AI industry undergoing a boom in recent years. 

"Many people had no idea of what AI was a few years ago, but now, with the market prospect dawning, graduates with relevant educational backgrounds are in high and urgent demand," Yang said. 

His university is also planning to establish an AI school, aiming to make the new technology a helping hand for military and civilian integration.