Showing posts with label Artificial Intelligence. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Artificial Intelligence. Show all posts

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

BBC News - Artificial intelligence community mourns John McCarthy

BBC News - Artificial intelligence community mourns John McCarthy - 25 October 2011 -

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-15444222

This article commemorates this important Artificial Intelligence Pioneer, and also is informative -

"Artificial intelligence researcher, John McCarthy, has died. He was 84.

The American scientist invented the computer language LISP.

It went on to become the programming language of choice for the AI community, and is still used today.

Professor McCarthy is also credited with coining the term "Artificial Intelligence" in 1955 when he detailed plans for the first Dartmouth conference. The brainstorming sessions helped focus early AI research."

Saturday, October 08, 2011

Stanford University - Free computer science courses - Introduction to Databases

I've taken my own advice that these Stanford University Courses are a great opportunity to study free courses. I've registered for the 'Introduction to Databases' course. It actually starts on Monday (October 10th). It runs until 12th December. So I'm glad I registered this morning, and happened to be in time for this course. The registration was straightforward, and immediately made available online resources to help me prepare.

These are the links to my previous blog post and to the Stanford University news article - http://userdrivenmodelling.blogspot.com/2011/09/stanford-university-free-computer.html.

The Stanford University Website I referenced, which is the place to start if considering registering for any of these 3 courses - http://news.stanford.edu/news/2011/august/online-computer-science-081611.html - 'Machine Learning, Introduction to Artificial Intelligence and Introduction to Databases'.

Wednesday, September 07, 2011

Stanford University - Free computer science courses, new teaching technology reinvent online education

This is a very useful educational resource provided for free by Stanford University Professors. The courses are - Machine Learning, Introduction to Artificial Intelligence and Introduction to Databases.

The article that explains this is at - http://news.stanford.edu/news/2011/august/online-computer-science-081611.html - Free computer science courses, new teaching technology reinvent online education - Stanford Report, August 16, 2011.

Below is part of the article, and those interested can click on the link above for the whole article.

"Stanford Engineering professors are setting out to add a new level of interactivity to online education by offering three of the university's most popular computer science classes for free.

Morgan Quigley

Computer Science professor Andrew Ng uses tablet-recording technology he developed to instantly display notes for his interactive video lecture.
BY JAMIE BECKETT

Stanford Engineering professors are offering three of the school’s most popular computer science courses for free online this fall, and at the same time launching an experiment that could transform the way online education is delivered.

The professors are taking technologies designed to enhance learning for Stanford students and extending them to a broad online audience. They are delivering lectures as short, interactive video clips that allow students to progress at their own pace through course materials. They are offering live quizzes with instant feedback. And they are testing new technologies that allow students to rank questions that should be posed to the instructors.

The professors also hope to extend the benefits of Stanford-style education to those who lack access.

“Both in the United States and elsewhere, many people simply do not have access to a high-quality education. By putting out this initial set of courses, we hope to teach some of the latest computing technologies to anyone who wants to learn it – for free,” said Andrew Ng, an associate professor of computer science who is teaching a new online machine learning course.

The three courses – Machine Learning, Introduction to Artificial Intelligence and Introduction to Databases – cover material that forms the basis of some of the most prevalent technologies today, from online shopping to web search and robotics."

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

When algorithms control the world

This BBC story based on a book by Eli Pariser 'The Filter Bubble', is interesting in how it explores the way algorithms affect our lives in unpredictable ways. An important example of this is the way so much financial trading is done by algorithms with no human interaction, with unpredictable consequences -

When algorithms control the world - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-14306146.
23 August 2011

By Jane Wakefield

Technology reporter

"If you were expecting some kind warning when computers finally get smarter than us, then think again.

There will be no soothing HAL 9000-type voice informing us that our human services are now surplus to requirements.

In reality, our electronic overlords are already taking control, and they are doing it in a far more subtle way than science fiction would have us believe.

Their weapon of choice - the algorithm."