[COVER STORY] Korea focuses on AI majors while global universities rewrite rules of education

SINGAPORE, LONDON, SEOUL — Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming industries and reshaping higher education, prompting a divide between Korean universities and leading global institutions. Korean institutions are focusing on establishing AI departments and increasing enrollment in advanced technology fields. In contrast, some of the world's top universities are reevaluating the core principles of higher education.

At Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore, AI education is expanding beyond traditional engineering and computer science majors. The university aims to integrate AI into 40% of courses across all 52 undergraduate degree programs by 2030, up from 5% currently. NTU's goal is to bring AI into 40% of courses across all 52 undergraduate degree programs by 2030, up from just 5% today.

Meanwhile, other leading global universities are challenging the status quo in higher education. They are exploring new ways of assessing students' abilities, determining which academic strengths will remain valuable amidst AI's growing influence, and determining which skills will withstand the test of time as AI takes over tasks once performed exclusively by humans.