Students and teachers of Russian universities consider the development of artificial intelligence (AI) and the fight against pollution of the World Ocean and an increase in its temperature to be the main trends of the future. This is evidenced by the results of a study by the Agency for Strategic Initiatives (ASI). These data will make it possible to set priorities when developing development scenarios for Russia in various areas and industries, ASI General Director Svetlana Chupsheva is confident. Young people traditionally pay attention to the loudest trends in the media space, experts believe, but Chupsheva admits that the areas of use of AI will rapidly expand in the near future.
From warming to AI
Students and teachers of Russian universities consider the main future trends to be the development of artificial intelligence (AI), the fight against pollution of the World Ocean and an increase in its temperature. This follows from the results of the study “The Image of the Future According to Russian Students,” which was conducted by the Center for Research and Methodology of the Agency for Strategic Initiatives (ASI). Izvestia reviewed the document.
The study participants included about 20 thousand students and university teachers from 65 regions. They were asked to highlight the main trends for the coming years in eight areas: demography, climate and ecology, technology, food, health and pandemics, space, energy and socioculture. The majority of respondents (87%) are first- to third-year students. Representatives of the Central and Volga Federal Districts participated most actively in the study.
The majority of respondents – 84% of teachers and 81% of students – indicated the importance of the development of artificial intelligence and breakthroughs in labor productivity. In addition, in the field of socioculture, almost half of the respondents highlighted the impact of AI on the labor market.
According to 75% of students and 70% of teachers, the most important climate trends of the future can be considered the problem of pollution of the World Ocean and an increase in its temperature. Also, about 50% of survey participants drew attention to the need to develop electric transport and transport using alternative fuels.
The growth of inequality in the world and the formation of migration trends were noted by 59% of teachers and 52% of students. At the same time, 51% of students and 43% of teachers are concerned about the increase in the number of diseases. Almost half of them consider it especially important to pay attention to cancer, cardiovascular and rare diseases.
About 60% of teachers and 57% of students indicated the importance of developing space technologies, as well as developing new approaches to their production. Another 58% of students and 50% of teachers identified the growing demand for food due to population growth and urbanization processes as a future trend.
The most noticeable difference in the assessments of students and teachers was found in relation to certain trends in energy, climate and ecology. For example, 63% of students and only 49% of teachers are concerned about global warming. For the development of energy storage systems for network infrastructure 42% of students and 31% of teachers paid attention.
The outsider trends based on the survey results were the development of renewable energy sources and the creation of digital twins for monitoring the health of citizens. Also among the least important trends, study participants indicated a radical reduction in the cost of delivering cargo into orbit.
The results of the survey will make it possible to set priorities when developing development scenarios for Russia in various areas and industries, ASI General Director Svetlana Chupsheva is confident.
“Young people always have a special view, so it was important for us to find out the students’ opinions about the main trends in the world and in our country, about what is truly important to them, in solving what problems they are ready to participate,” she told Izvestia. “I am confident that they will be able to prepare breakthrough, innovative solutions to preserve marine biodiversity and reduce ocean water temperatures.
She noted that respondents also pay great attention to the creation of new, harmless modes of transport that will preserve the ecology of the planet.
Youth on the agenda
Topics related to the development of artificial intelligence and global warming of the world's oceans are now most noticeable in the media sphere, noted the Deputy Head of the Digital Transformation Department of the Russian University of Economics. G.V. Plekhanov Pavel Terelyansky.
— The Central Federal District and Volga Federal District, which actively participated in the study, are among the most urbanized in Russia. And for urbanized youth, the feeling of immersion in the media agenda is important,” he noted.
One can only rejoice at the popularity of the topic of ocean pollution and climate change among the student community, believes Alexander Rodin, a leading expert at the competence center of the National Technology Initiative “Artificial Intelligence” based at MIPT.
“We must remember that Russia is the only country in the world that has created a modern civilization in the vast Arctic; this is our historical responsibility for centuries to come,” the expert emphasized.
In ecology, he said, there are already many examples of the use of artificial intelligence. For example, to summarize data from satellites and other aircraft and obtain detailed information about the environmental situation.
Artificial intelligence is also used in many other areas, experts noted. Thus, it has firmly entered the field of education, recalled Yaroslav Seliverstov, head of the department of analysis, audit and data systematization of the Directorate of Services based on University 2035 data.
— It is used, for example, to quickly obtain a text on the relevance of the problem, to create the structure of a dissertation, coursework, or, for example, to write an introduction to analytical reports. A student can formulate a query: how relevant is a particular topic, and the AI will offer him templates that he can correct without thinking about the initial formulations. AI is also widely used by students in translating articles or programming primitive code,” he said.
In some cases, AI is now even capable of replacing a teacher when a student writes a coursework, the expert pointed out.
The exceptional importance of introducing AI technologies for the country’s economy is recognized today at the highest level, as evidenced by the recent list of presidential instructions, recalled Semyon Kraev, dean of ITMO’s Faculty of Digital Transformations.
“They, among other things, talk about the need to expand the state order for training highly qualified specialists and world-class development scientists in the field of AI. Students begin to “pump up their skills” in machine learning technologies while still at school and, for example, come to the All-Russian Olympiad in AI with a basic knowledge base,” the expert assured.
Trends in the field of AI technologies are changing rapidly, emphasized Semyon Kraev. He named natural language processing technologies and generative AI technologies among the most prominent ones in this area now.
Some other trend studies say that the main trends for the coming decades will also be migration processes, instability of established political systems, the movement of technological centers towards Asian powers, problems of rising food prices and problems of distribution of products, summarized Pavel Terelyansky.
#Guests #future #students #teachers #named #country39s #development #trends