AI Industry Shift to Southern Taiwan Drives Talent Demand; I-Shou University Enhances AI Education to Cultivate Cross-Domain Workforce Readiness

The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) technology is driving corporate digital transformation and reshaping Taiwan's talent demand and employment landscape. According to the '2026 Employee Career Vitality and Recognition Survey' released by 1111 Job Bank, job opportunities in southern Taiwan increased by nearly 10% in the first half of this year compared to the same period last year, thanks to the continued southward expansion of industries such as semiconductors, artificial intelligence, and smart manufacturing. This growth surpasses the 5.8% in northern Taiwan and 5.1% in central Taiwan, indicating that southern Taiwan is gradually becoming a key base for AI industry development.

I-Shou University President Ku Yuan-Kuang was recently invited to attend the press conference and 'Employment Express' event hosted by 1111 Job Bank for the '2026 Employee Career Vitality and Recognition Survey,' joining 14 southern universities to discuss talent cultivation and future employment trends in the AI era. He emphasized that AI has become an indispensable tool across all industries, and the talent sought by enterprises has shifted from single-domain expertise to individuals with cross-domain integration and AI application capabilities. University education must proactively cultivate students' AI literacy to enhance their competitiveness in the future workplace.

Advancing 'X+AI 2.0' and the AI@ISU Smart Campus: Leveraging Semiconductor and Smart Healthcare Resources for the AI Era

Industrial relocation drives employment growth: I-Shou University advances AI education to build cross-domain competitiveness (Photo: I-Shou University)

President Ku Yuan-Kuang pointed out that I-Shou University has been a pioneer since 2019 in promoting the 'X+AI' interdisciplinary curriculum, integrating artificial intelligence into engineering, medicine, management, communications, design, tourism, and hospitality programs, enabling students to simultaneously develop AI application skills alongside their specialized studies. In 2024, this initiative has been further upgraded to 'X+AI 2.0,' expanding from individual courses to a comprehensive four-year interdisciplinary learning framework. Through a progressive cultivation model, students can develop AI application capabilities based on their academic specialties, realizing the talent development philosophy of 'specialization combined with AI.'

Looking ahead to the 115th academic year, I-Shou University will officially launch the 'AI@ISU' smart campus initiative, fully integrating AI into teaching, research, administration, and campus life. This will establish an intelligent campus management system to enhance administrative efficiency and learning quality, creating an AI-driven smart campus ecosystem.

In addition to curriculum innovation, I-Shou University continues to strengthen its AI infrastructure. The university established Taiwan's second university-owned NVIDIA supercomputer as early as 2019, providing high-performance computing resources to support teaching, research, and industry-academia collaboration. It has been listed as a partner in NVIDIA's GTC Global Technology Conference for three consecutive years, demonstrating the university's strength in AI education, smart technology research, and industry-academia collaboration.

In terms of industry-academia collaboration, I-Shou University has established a semiconductor-like production line teaching environment, introducing enterprise equipment to create practical training settings. By leveraging the medical center resources of the E-Da Healthcare System, the university is actively developing interdisciplinary teaching and research in smart healthcare, medical AI, and precision health. This enables students to accumulate practical experience during their studies, bridging the gap between academic learning and industry needs, and enhancing their post-graduation employability.

President Ku Yuan-Kuang stated that the real competition in the AI era is not between humans and AI, but between those who can use AI and those who cannot. I-Shou University will continue to cultivate a new generation of talent equipped with professional knowledge, AI application skills, and interdisciplinary thinking through a comprehensive talent development mechanism, moving toward the goal of 'AI-ready upon graduation.' This will empower students to gain a competitive edge in the AI-driven workplace.