The National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) has granted approval for the Kwara State Polytechnic, Ilorin to commence a National Diploma (ND) programme in Artificial Intelligence (AI) from the next academic session.

Rector of the Polytechnic, Engr. Dr. Abdul Jimoh Mohammed, made the disclosure at the opening ceremony of the 7th Annual International Conference of the Institute of Applied Sciences of the Polytechnic, held at the Admiral Mohammed Lawal Auditorium.

The conference, themed, "Harnessing Artificial Intelligence for Sustainable Development in Sciences and Applied Sciences," brought together academics, professionals and other stakeholders to deliberate on the growing impact and applications of artificial intelligence.

Commending the Institute for choosing what he described as a timely and relevant theme, Engr. Abdul noted that artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming virtually every aspect of human behaviour and activities.

He expressed confidence that participants would gain valuable knowledge from the papers and lectures to be presented at the conference, and urged them to listen attentively as the knowledge acquired could prove useful to them in the future.

The rector further called for ideas, research papers and other scholarly contributions that could support the successful take-off of the new ND programme in Artificial Intelligence. He stressed that any contribution capable of adding value to the programme would be welcomed.

The approval by NBTE is expected to position the Polytechnic as one of the early adopters of AI education at the ND level in the country.