A Computer Science student wrote to me: “I like to read your blog about technology trends and I want to learn about Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning but my school does not teach these subjects. Where can I learn about them and what can these technologies do? Please advise.”
Answer: Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the concept that machines can do the works in a way that require learning and thinking. (People often relate learning and thinking with intelligence). Machine Learning (ML) is based on the idea that machines can learn by themselves based on the data that we give to them. Today AI is fast becoming an important tool for many industries and this technology is already a $25 billion dollars business and could grow to $ 40 billion by 2020. Currently, there is a critical shortage of people with this skills all over the world.
AI can be used in many businesses, for example, in the past Google search is based on “static algorithms” that focus on “keyword.” You put in the word, and the search engine is looking for anything that has that word and presents to you. But today, Google search is using “dynamic AI algorithms” where it can predict what you are looking for based on your previous search data and other data available and present to you what you want much more accurately. AI technology is not just optimized search engine for better accuracy but also help banking to detect frauds. AI algorithms in the Banking systems can detect any anomalous transactions such as people making multiple withdrawals or any unusual behavior. It can identify a large range of fraudulent activity based on millions of banking transactions in minutes. Amazon is using AI to learn about your purchasing habit and make a recommendation to you.
There are several Machine learning and AI courses in the Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) that you can take. For example:
- Blogs of Prof. John Vu, Carnegie Mellon University