For engineering aspirants, choosing between BTech Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) and BTech Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI & ML) can be confusing. While both programmes share several computing fundamentals, their focus differs in terms of breadth and specialisation. Prof Kishore Kothapalli, Dean, Academics, IIIT-H, explains the key differences to help students understand what each course offers. As per the dean, CSE provides a broader foundation across computer science and computing systems, while AI & ML combines computing fundamentals with greater emphasis on artificial intelligence, machine learning, mathematics, statistics and data-driven applications. The mathematics component is also important. He says AI & ML places greater emphasis on probability, statistics, linear algebra, optimisation and mathematical modelling. However, curricula vary between institutions, so students should check the detailed syllabus before making a choice. Prof Kothapalli notes that both programmes require problem-solving, analytical ability, computational thinking and the ability to learn new technologies.

The International Institute of Information Technology Hyderabad (IIIT Hyderabad) and measurement technologies firm Hexagon R&D India on Wednesday announced their collaboration to establish the Hexagon Digital Twin Centre of Excellence (CoE) at the campus of the institute. The CoE will focus on driving applied research, education, and industry collaboration in computer vision, spatial computing, and digital twins, powered by artificial intelligence (AI), according to a statement. The collaboration aims to provide students, faculty, and researchers at IIIT Hyderabad access to Hexagon’s advanced precision imaging laser scanner, which enables high-fidelity digital twin creation. “This collaboration with Hexagon will give our researchers and students access to advanced technologies and real-world spatial data, creating opportunities to take research from the lab to practical applications. We look forward to building a strong research and innovation ecosystem through this Centre of Excellence,” IIIT Hyderabad director Prof Sandeep K Shukla said.

Has Artificial Intelligence gone rogue? It may sound so if one were to go by the dire warnings coming from tech titans like OpenAI, Anthropic, and Meta amid revelations of a series of alarming incidents of swarms of AI agents hacking into other organisations. By now, people are familiar with the breaking out of AI agents into the Hugging Face systems and calls for regulation. Karthik Vaidhyanathan, Assistant Professor at the Software Engineering Research Centre, IIIT-Hyderabad, opines that the significant change now is that AI is moving beyond its traditional role as a prediction engine. “What is changing now is that it can understand what the human is trying to say and then perform the action. A conventional AI system, for instance, could identify flights between Hyderabad and Bengaluru. An AI agent could potentially understand a user’s preferences, search flights, compare them, select one and complete the booking,” he explains. The difference is tool use. If AI can generate code, it can also generate a call to a function that actually performs an action. “The combination of large language models, tool calling and memory is moving AI from predicting text to performing actions,” he says.