KUALA LUMPUR: Artificial intelligence must be integrated into university curricula without sacrificing students' critical thinking and humanity, says Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abd Kadir.

Speaking after launching Asia Pacific University’s (APU) AI Supercomputing Lab on Friday (Sept 4), Zambry emphasised that the upcoming Malaysia Higher Education Blueprint 2026–2035 focuses on producing "human-centric" graduates.

“AI is an important tool that is already reshaping our universities and workplaces,” Zambry said. “However, you cannot simply rely on AI at the expense of our humanity.”

Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abd Kadir attends for the launching of AI Supercomputing Lab Powered by NVIDIA DGX Spark Spine at Asia Pacific University of TechnologyInnovation, Kuala Lumpur. — FAIHAN GHANI/The Star

He added that higher education institutions must continuously review their curricula and pedagogies to adapt to AI's growing influence on knowledge production and problem-solving.

The newly launched facility, powered by NVIDIA DGX Spark, marks Malaysia’s first university lab capable of processing AI models with up to 200 billion parameters locally.

APU Chief Executive Officer Datuk Parmjit Singh noted that the lab gives students, academics, and researchers direct access to high-performance infrastructure for generative AI, machine learning, and emerging agentic AI applications.

“This level of computing power allows students to experiment with larger models, tackle complex problems, and turn ideas into working solutions for an AI-driven economy,” Parmjit said.