As Singapore looks to digitalise the economy, deepen its capabilities and grow its technology ecosystem in Asia and globally, it is anticipated that there will be a huge demand for more AI talents, i.e., engineers and “product managers” who can combine technical expertise in design innovation with the skills to apply AI to other disciplines (such as engineering, healthcare, media, built environment, etc.).
About 10,000 tech-related jobs are expected to be created in the next 3 years through Digital Industry Singapore (DISG), hence, the new degree programme “Design and Artificial Intelligence” (DAI) aims to create a new breed of technically-grounded designers and innovators who are able to harness the power of AI to enable digital design and innovation in the space of products, systems, services and built environment. SUTD has the unique advantage and strength to set up a multi-disciplinary programme in AI-enabled design innovation since “Design” is its DNA and it has AI as one of its focused fields of study and research. Our broad-based education provides all students with the technical foundation and ethical awareness in their professional practice as well as the scientific and digital literacy required of all technically-inclined citizens.
Design also plays an important role. Taken from the Singapore Design 2025 Masterplan –‘Design plays a critical role in the global paradigm shift from an industrial economy to an experience and knowledge based economy…design actually helps improve lives.’
- AI solutions architects
- Product / system / service designer
- Data Analyst/ scientist
- Machine learning engineer
- User-experience (UX) or user-interface (UI) designer
- Data visualisation specialist
- Business intelligence analyst
- Business/Systems analyst
- AI engineer
- Process / Systems Improvement analyst
- Entrepreneur/ Intra-preneur
There is currently an acute shortage of AI talents i.e., engineers and “product managers” who can combine technical expertise in design innovation with the skills to apply AI to other disciplines (such as engineering, healthcare, media, built environment, etc.). This includes AI for making UI design smarter, automating content creation, curation and management including creating abstracts and graphic objects, personalising UX, etc.
Given this, and the anticipated 10,000 tech-related jobs to be created in the next three years through Digital Industry Singapore (DISG), we believe that there will be a very strong demand for AI talents who are well-trained in user experience design, software programming, hardware design, IoT integration to formulate personalised solutions that meet the needs of that industry sector, and society in general.
SUTD is confident that DAI graduates would help close the Design and AI talent gap and contribute to the growth of an economy that is being transformed by AI.
- Aviation
- Cities/urban planning
- Engineering
- High-technology industries
- UI/UX solution companies
- Financial and banking
- Logistics and travel
- Product Design
- Consulting
- Telecommunications
- Healthcare
- Defence
- Professional Services
- Banking/Financial services
- Marketing/Media
- Government/Statutory Board
- eCommerce
Design and AI equips students with knowledge of application of AI algorithms and software to be implemented into products, systems or services, whereas, ISTD/ISTD AI track equips students with knowledge on how to create/programme better/cleverer AI algorithms.
Parametric design is a tool specifically for architectural and geometric design; the DAI course is more widely scoped across multiple domains to allow for graduates to be ready to apply AI creatively to problems in multiple industries.
These are similar to the exchange experiences and internship opportunities for the other degree programmes. However, it should be noted that only internships in the second summer are counted for DAI.
Yes, students taking DAI are able to choose from the list of SUTD minors subjected to the minor requirements.
Yes, students in the Special Programmes are free to choose DAI as their major.
Design thinking, design innovation, human-centric design, UIUX, product, systems, built environment, data-driven design.
Most programmes either focus on developing “better AI”, or “better designs”. DAI however, focuses on “better design using AI”. To our knowledge, there are no other similar programmes integrating design and AI at the undergraduate level.
No. Unless the Freshmore student decides to takes a gap year.
Will students still do the common Freshmore curriculum before choosing their major/degree programme?
Yes.
There are various unique features of DAI, including:
- Application-based AI-related and design-focused core courses in Terms 4 and 5
- AI Design Studios
- allow students to make connections between AI and design thinking methodologies
- equip students with diverse exposure to industry sectors, working on real-world data via company-sponsored projects
- vertically integrate junior and senior year students within project themes; providing managerial and leadership experience for senior year students
- Combination with Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) to understand ethics and social responsibility; and Business courses to learn importance of value-creation
- Depending on the chosen electives, students may have a varying concentration in Design / AI / HASS / Business