A machine learning and artificial intelligence learning group
This is mostly a placeholder at the moment, but I think this learning group could be structured around five threads:
- the practical: how to build software using AI/ML
- the theory: the underlying concepts that power the algorithms
- the social: the possible or present impacts of the deployment of AI systems
- the philosophical: if desired we can also talk about implications AI has for the place of humans, consciousness, etc
- the integration: how experiences/interactions with AI are designed
I think that covers it?
The "practical" thread might be tricky to pull of since it would require a several hours together (if it's structured as workshops). Another possible arrangement is we all agree to e.g. learn one framework with regular goals/check-ins and we each learn them independently (though we of course can help each other out with learning e.g. via Slack).
I'd also say we should stick to a single language (Python) to minimize overhead of jumping around different languages.
A big open question is how do we organize a course that has some very technical material for people of many different backgrounds in a way that isn't too lecture-focused and more discussion-oriented?
I think the syllabus could be based off of my AI notes but those are mostly focused on theory. So it would need to be supplemented with the "practical" thread (I think that can be informal though), the "social" thread (I have a stash of readings on those that I'll drop in here at some point), and the "philosophical" thread (I don't have much there tbh).