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Week 1 of 6 · 2.5-3 hours

What AI Is and Is Not

Tell artificial intelligence apart from ordinary software, and spot the AI already around you.

Big question: What makes something 'artificial intelligence' instead of ordinary software?

By the end of this week

  • Define artificial intelligence and tell it apart from traditional software.
  • Explain the difference between automation and machine learning.
  • Trace input, rules, output, and learned patterns.
  • Recognize everyday AI and the human decisions behind it.

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  1. AI or Not?Sort everyday technology into artificial intelligence and ordinary software, and learn the one question that tells them apart.
  2. Rules Versus Learned PatternsLook closely at automation and machine learning: when a person writes the rules, and when the software learns patterns from examples instead.
  3. Week 1 Device InvestigationInvestigate the devices and apps around you, map their inputs and outputs, and uncover the human decisions behind the AI features you rely on.