Artificial Intelligence is being increasingly used in software, finance, healthcare, education, retail and other areas of digital products and services.
While some AI courses after 12th are focused more on the engineering or building aspects of AI, others combine Computer Science with AI. There are also a number of data-focused courses available, which may only provide students with short-term certificates.
The key is to find a course that first provides students with a strong foundation in topics such as programming, mathematics and data, as well as Computer Science, and provides students with plenty of opportunities to put what they learn into real-world projects.
Which AI Course Is Best After 12th?
There is no one-size-fits-all AI course after 12th. Students aiming for a serious career in AI should look for courses that cover programming, mathematics, data handling, machine learning, software development and practical application.
Short-term courses might be good to get started with AI, but it cannot be used as a substitute in order to get a good job in AI. Therefore, one should compare the curriculum, hands-on training, prerequisites, costs, career support and flexibility of courses.
What Does AI Courses After 12th Include?
Depending on the course, students may learn:
Artificial Intelligence
Machine Learning
Data Science
Deep Learning
Natural Language Processing
Computer Vision
Generative AI
Robotics
AI product development
What Should a Good AI Course Teach?
The objective of a good course on AI is not to teach students how to use different tools, but rather to teach them how to create AI systems.
Students should seek learning in areas such as:
Programming fundamentals
Data structures and algorithms
Databases and SQL
Mathematics for AI
Probability and statistics
Data cleaning and analysis
Machine learning
Deep learning
Generative AI basics
Software development
APIs and deployment
Cloud or MLOps fundamentals
Responsible AI and data privacy
Projects and internships
When you learn to program, you can write applications that use AI. When you learn mathematics, you can see how your AI model learns. When you learn to handle data, you can prepare the data for your AI application in real-life situations. When you learn to deploy models, you can see what happens after you have trained your model.
Best AI Course Options After 12th
Many colleges now offer AI courses after 12th for students with varied levels of prior exposure, experience, interest and even career goals.
1. Engineering or Technology-Based AI Routes
These courses are more technical in nature and include topics like programming, mathematics, algorithms, machine learning, software development and many more AI projects. These courses help in preparing students who can work as AI engineers, software engineers, machine learning professionals, data scientists and many more applied AI professionals.
One should also check how much core Computer Science is covered apart from AI in the course.
2. Computer Science With AI Specialisation
There are some students who would benefit more from a broader Computer Science undergraduate programme, that includes topics such as AI, machine learning or data-focused subjects. Such a programme would allow them to explore various aspects of software development, such as backend development, cloud computing, data science and working in AI roles.
For students who are not sure whether to go for a broader Computer Science undergraduate programme or an AI-focused programme, they can read this guide on which is better AI or CSE to first understand how both programmes are different before making a choice.
For the students who are looking for a more technical undergraduate course focused on AI, the CS & AI programme at Scaler School of Technology is a great option. The course is designed to provide a Computer Science foundation with AI/ML at the core, with topics like system design and software engineering.
3. Data Science and AI-Focused Routes
Data Science and AI are two interconnected fields that, to a great extent, overlap. If you’re the type of student who is more focused on data in your problem-solving, Data Science is a highly relevant subject with a lot of numbers, lots of pattern recognition, prediction and business problems that need to be solved.
When looking at courses that have a lot of data in them, e.g. Python, SQL, statistics, data visualisation, machine learning, model evaluation, etc., most of these types of courses are designed to teach you analytics and apply things such as recommendation systems, prediction models and data-driven decision-making.
4. Short-Term and Online AI Courses
Diplomas, short-term courses and online certification programmes in AI provide students with initial exposure to the subject and include topics such as an introduction to AI, basic data structures, Python programming, various AI tools, prompt engineering and introductory machine learning.
However, these are more relevant as supplements to the initial AI introduction. For students who are looking to work in AI, machine learning or engineering in greater depth than that, they need a solid foundation for their work, tons of projects to work on and plenty of hands-on experience.
Eligibility for AI Courses After 12th
Eligibility depends on the course and institution.
Most of the engineering-oriented programmes in Artificial Intelligence are open to students who are studying in 12th standard and have a Science background or PCM. However, there are many computing, data, business, business analytics, design and even certificate programmes that have different eligibility criteria.
Admission to programmes will be based on parameters like entrance test, academic marks, interview, aptitude test, etc., as specified by respective institutions. For detailed information about a programme while applying, students must refer to the official website of respective colleges/institutions.
PCM students have numerous options for technical and engineering-oriented AI courses, while non-PCM students too can explore possibilities of studying AI through computing, data, business, analytics and skill-based courses.
Skills Students Should Build Alongside an AI Course
A course gives structure, but students also need to build skills actively.
Important technical skills include:
Python
SQL
Data handling
Machine learning basics
APIs
Git and GitHub
Cloud basics
Generative AI tools
In addition to gaining skills that are specific to AI, students should also acquire skills in areas such as logical reasoning and problem-solving, as well as learning to communicate, document and work as a team. Much of the work involving AI systems is spent testing, fine-tuning and improving them to ensure that they are performing optimally.
What Career Options Can AI Courses Lead To?
AI courses can lead to different career paths based on their skills and practical experience.
Possible roles include:
AI Engineer
Machine Learning Engineer
Data Scientist
Data Analyst
Software Engineer
Backend Developer working on AI features
Applied AI Developer
NLP Engineer
Computer Vision Engineer
MLOps Engineer
AI Product Engineer
Students who would like to know more about various roles within the AI engineering scope can read this guide.
How to Choose the Right AI Course After 12th
The right course is not necessarily the one with the most appealing name; evaluate a course on its merits, not just its name.
Check the Curriculum
Ensure the course has a good mix of the following: programming/coding, Computer Science fundamentals, maths, data handling/analytics, AI, Machine Learning, Software Development and Software Deployment. Just because most of the subjects have ‘AI’ in their names does not mean the course is a good choice for you.
Check Practical Learning
Look for plenty of coding assignments and labs. Go through the list of projects that students will complete in the course, the scope of internships, hackathons, etc. A good project is a project where the student can build something from scratch, and it is useful.
Check Flexibility
Even in college, interests could change. It is good to have the option to delve into topics like software engineering, data science and other AI projects using related technology areas.
Check Mentorship and Career Support
Another way of comparing options would be to list the faculty experience, quality of project mentorship, scope for internships, companies hiring, roles offered and outcomes of alumni for each option. Don’t just compare based on the highest package offered in one course.
For the SST CS & AI programme, 36% of the first batch of students already hold confirmed intern to pre-placement offers before their fourth year. The average package so far is ₹20 LPA, with the highest being ₹44 LPA, and 55% of the batch placed in AI-native companies.
Compare Cost With Outcomes
Compare the course fees and the living costs to those of other similar-priced programmes, as well as the scholarships on offer, the quality of the support to get you placed for internships and the general career outcomes of the previous batches of the course.
Who Should Choose AI Courses After 12th?
Students who enjoy coding, logic, mathematics, data and problem-solving, there are numerous courses available in AI. This also covers how chatbots, recommendation systems, image recognition tools and prediction models work, as well as how systems are automated.
For students who are interested in developing AI products and also want to understand how users use technology to solve business problems, SST’s AI & Business programme could be the right choice. These types of courses are best for students who are interested in developing technology products at the intersection of technology, product thinking and business applications.
Conclusion
A student must first look at a strong foundation in programming, maths, data, Computer Science and AI, and then the practical implementation of the same by doing projects.
While short-term courses can help a student determine if he or she can work in the AI field, most AI-related careers require more in-depth technical knowledge and application of learning to develop AI systems. Thus, a student looking at various AI courses after 12th has to compare and assess the amount of learning a student will get from a course and how well a student can apply what he or she learned in building AI systems.
FAQs
Which AI course is best after 12th?
Each student may need to compare different AI courses after 12th to learn AI. There is no one course for all. The course should help a student learn programming, mathematics, data, machine learning, software development, etc. Most importantly, a student should learn by working on projects.
Can I study AI after 12th?
Yes, students who have passed 12th can also study AI through various academic as well as skill-based routes. Always check the eligibility criteria for a particular course on the institute’s official website before applying for it.
Are AI courses after 12th only for Science students?
Technical AI courses like engineering with AI as a specialism would require a Science or PCM background, but there are many computing, data, business analytics, design-oriented courses as well as AI-oriented courses that offer certificates or specialisations. Students from any stream can look into the various courses offered by different institutions and see if they are relevant to the student’s interests and career goals.
