HAVANA, Cuba, (ACN) – “Cuba has the potential to make good progress with the introduction of artificial intelligence (AI), as we have long enjoyed professional capabilities for its introduction in all areas”, Cuban president Miguel Diaz-Canel said at a recent meeting with academics and executives of organizations and entities to whom the head of state emphasized that Cuba cannot be left behind and do as it did in the case of Biotechnology.
Díaz-Canel pointed out that AI can be part of all university degree courses, including Social Sciences and Medicine, two fields in which this tool is making great strides at international level.
Rafael Bello Pérez, from the Marta Abreu Central University of Las Villas, deemed the cradle of AI development in Cuba, agreed with the president and proposed to create a program in every university to promote leading-edge initiatives, a motion seconded by other officials and professionals from higher education centers on grounds that Cuba has world-class specialists capable of providing training on the subject.
Walter Baluja García, minister of higher education, stressed both the fact that Cuban universities boast professors who have graduated with honors from foreign universities in the field of AI and the need to improve the qualification of the staff in higher education institutions and in state administration bodies in the use of emerging technologies.
Díaz-Canel also pointed out the need that the AI results achieved in one entity or sector should be shared with others and become a steady service.
At the meeting that the head of state held this month with scientists and experts to address the Strategy for AI Development in Cuba, Professor Denys Buedo Hidalgo, director of computer science of the ministry of higher education, said that the main goal is to provide training with a view to the economic, cultural, political and social transformation imposed by the responsible use and development of AI, launch professional development and training programs for teachers to facilitate the understanding and adoption of AI in informal educational environments, and design related courses for the staffs engaged in science, research and innovation, as well as state and government officials.
