We stand at the threshold of a technological revolution globally. The nations that will lead in near future will not merely be those with abundant natural resources but those with strong scientific ecosystems and highly skilled human capital in terms of artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, robotics, biotechnology, quantum computing, and data science. Artificial Intelligence is built upon mathematics, statistics, algorithms, programming, electronics, and computational thinking. Every breakthrough in AI ultimately rests on a foundation of basic sciences. Scientists who develop large language models, autonomous vehicles, medical diagnostic systems, climate prediction models, or advanced robotics rely heavily on mathematical reasoning, scientific experimentation, and computational skills. In this context, the declining interest of majority of our students in basic sciences such as Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, Biology, and Computer Science deserves serious attention.

This discussion should not, however, be interpreted as a criticism of the humanities disciplines. Society requires historians, economists, linguists, philosophers, psychologists, political scientists, lawyers, journalists, teachers, and artists at every stage and at all time. Humanities and social sciences remain indispensable for understanding society, culture, ethics, governance, and human behavior. In fact AI itself raises ethical, legal, and social questions that cannot be answered by engineers alone. The point however is that a significant number of students choose humanities not necessarily out of passion for history, literature, political........

© Greater Kashmir