The Iraqi government is planning to incorporate artificial intelligence skills in the education system, and is set to open three AI clubs in the country to promote much-needed talents in the country, an advisor to the prime minister told media outlets on Saturday.
Dhiaa al-Jumaili, AI strategy advisor to Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani, said during the AI conference organized in Erbil that the AI clubs aim to start AI education from the grassroots.
Dr. Ali al-Sherbaz, academic director for digital skills at the Institute of Continuing Education at the University of Cambridge, told the conference that the estimated 40-million population of Iraq needs about 40,000 skilled professionals in AI and cybersecurity.
The conference also highlighted some of the challenges that AI has created, including the concentration of power in the hands of a few big tech companies and the increasing use of large language models by students to do their assignments.
