Stanford 'Intro To AI' Course Offered Free Online 148
An anonymous reader writes "IEEE Spectrum reports that Stanford's CS221 course 'Introduction to Artificial Intelligence' will be offered online for free. Anyone can sign up and take the course, along with several hundred Stanford undergrads. The instructors are Sebastian Thrun, known for his self-driving cars, and Peter Norvig, director of research at Google. Online students will actually have to do all the same work as the Stanford students. There will be at least 10 hours per week of studying, along with weekly graded homework assignments and midterm and final exams. The instructors, who will be available to answer questions, will issue a certificate for those who complete the course, along with a final grade that can be compared to the grades of the Stanford students. The course, which will last 10 weeks, starts on October 2nd, and online enrollment is now open."
When asked how they would deal with ten thousand students, Professor Thrun replied:
"We will use something akin to Google Moderator to make sure Peter and I answer the most pressing questions. Our hypothesis is that even in a class of 10,000, there will only be a fixed number of really interesting questions (like 15 per week). There exist tools to find them."
Ahh AI (Score:2)
Just like personal robots, flying cars, and apartments on the moon, a worth while dream.
eBook not understood! (Score:3, Funny)
I don't think that e-book means what they think it does :)
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>
I don't think that e-book means what they think it does :)
Inconceivable!
Go to Amazon. $103.49 for Kindle edition. (Score:2)
Yeah. $103.49 for a text file.
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Perhaps The Pirate Bay has it for less.
http://thepiratebay.org/search/Artificial%20Intelligence:%20A%20Modern%20Approach/0/99/0 [thepiratebay.org]
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Just like personal robots, flying cars, and apartments on the moon, a worth while dream.
Or the robots assembling and inspecting parts on a production line, or autonomous vehicles navigating from point A to point B on land or in the air, or software that screens medical imagery to hilight anomalies for doctors, ..., character recognition, voice recognition, facial recognition, ...
All of these are applications of AI. Pardon the emphasis on computer vision related examples, computer vision was my research area in grad school.
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CS221 is the introductory course into the field of Artificial Intelligence at Stanford University. It covers basic elements of AI, such as knowledge representation, inference, machine learning, planning and game playing, information retrieval, and computer vision and robotics. CS221 is a broad course aimed to teach students the very basics of modern AI. It is prerequisite to many other, more specialized AI classes at Stanford University.
sounds like electronic human brains is the goal to me
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The field of AI is no longer focused on creating humans brains as far as I've learned from my studies. They did dream big back then when the field first came to be, but the complexity of the problem became apparent. It's simply, currently, not possible.
There is planning, search and logic AI, which finds the best possible plans for different problems, and is often used in manufacturing. Such as designing computer chips, or for instructions to robots or cranes that builds, sorts or package. AI is capable of a
Re:Possible - Absolutely (Score:2)
I strongly believe it is possible - it just takes actual funding!
I have cynically remarked that it is a "racial fear" which prevents us from really funding the research it would take to really hit the singularity. That, and our current greed and lust for power playing wargames.
We could have had it by 2012. Taking the famous marker of 9-11, instead of the disastrous failed decade, if we had poured that Trillion into a broad research pyramid, we'd be there. 75 teams of 25 people working for 10 years - yep. Pi
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No. Not AT ALL. Yes, game AI is a small part of it, but modern artificial intelligence has left game AI waaaay behind in the dust. Game AI is mostly about specialized logic to the rules of the game (pathing, observing enemy moves, etc.), maintaining a priority queue of actions, and making the right responses when the right action is chosen. Out of the 4 artificial intelligence courses I took at college, one of which was graduate-level, we spoke abo
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You're right that most game AI doesn't use very sophisticated techniques, but just for the record it's not true that the Berkeley Overmind team found building a "true AI" (whatever that means) for Starcraft to be "beyond infeasible". They focused on mutas because they're easier to do micro with, but the higher-level strategic code is AFAIK pretty much race-agnostic. There's a build-order planner which can work with any set of building constraints you feed it, there's strategy selection which leverages resul
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I agree in regards to game AI; I said that there was a difference between research and the industry. In the industry it's just finite automata. In research it is neural networks, evolutionary algorithms, reinforcement learning, learning classifier systems, monte carlo techniques et cetera. My own master thesis is based on such AI. The reading I did on the field, also shows that others are researching in AI with these methods.
So yes, we agree. Game AI in research; machine learning and other complex techniqu
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Oh, and why it is interesting to pursue AI that can play an unknown game; procedural generated games. You can evolve those, and evaluate them based on how the AI agents play the generated games. If you can make an AI that plays somewhat like a human, you can then in turn procedurally generate games that humans can play. Think of starcraft for example; you could perfectly balance the three races and each unit, through these means. Even adjust the general rules of the game, such as economy and what not. It mi
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If it does a job better than a human, then it is an advance.
I think that's what scares a lot of people.
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No, the goal is autonomous systems that can react appropriately to their environment according to their function and task. It has nothing to do with mimicking how a human brain works, although there are sub-fields of AI that do try to work on that.
Re:Sounds... awesome... (Score:4, Informative)
http://ocw.mit.edu/index.htm [mit.edu]
http://www.wikipedia.org/ [wikipedia.org]
http://www.khanacademy.org/ [khanacademy.org]
http://www.ted.com/ [ted.com]
Standford isn't first to this game, but I still applaud them.
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they are the first that does it just like the normal course - with graded work - and completion - for free. all the others you list are just references and the material.
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For me, the graded work and scheduling is the key. It's the first free online course that includes a strategy to prevent procrastination!
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not just prevent procrastination but to guide you through the content in a structured and logical manner.
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It doesn't look like it's a credit course for anyone who isn't a registered Stanford student. They give you a certificate of completion (Which, when combined with $1.50 will get you a cup of coffee), but not actual course credit. On the other hand, this is a course taught by two of the top researchers in the field. It's probably worth it just to learn something. I'm seriously considering this. I don't know a lot about coding AI, beyond some really high level theory; and while I'm sure that a ten week c
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Don't expect to be doing a lot of coding AI in an intro course. If they're anything like my AI classes, they are 9 parts conceptual, 1 part pseudo-code. Maybe you'll get to write a bit of Lisp in the meantime (AI people think Lisp is the language of the gods, and trying to change that is like prying CoBOL from bankers or FORTRAN from Mech-E people).
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Modern bankers are like that with Java. COBOL is gradually dying as mainframes get replaced, but it's the Java behemoth that replaces it, so six o' one, as the saying goes.
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i already stuck the syllabus on my calendar - i don't take classes for "credit" i take them to actually learn something interesting and/or useful to me. this is a great opportunity, that may not present it's self again.
AI Thesis! (Score:5, Funny)
Proposed:
A software program which can successfully pass this course.
Related: Turing Test
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an AI avatar to do just what you said is a pre-req for the advanced course. makes for a quiet classroom.
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Re:TFA is wrong (Score:5, Informative)
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Only 15 good questions per 10000 students (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Only 15 good questions per 10000 students (Score:5, Insightful)
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It is also a great service in terms of knowledge sharing. I watched a lot of youtube videos from Stanford and others, while studying CS and AI. It's great for helping with reading up, as I can't remember everything that happened at my own lectures. Also some professors explain some things better than others; if confused about something in your lecture, look it up from other sources, and clear it up. In that sense I think it benefits CS study in general. If someone outside of college can learn it in this for
As long as the service doesn't suffer. (Score:2)
I know that when I have been in large classes, the added value of taking the class compared to just learning from a book was much lower than with small class sizes. Stanford students may feel cheated if they think that the online portion of this class takes time and attention away from the Stanford class and students.
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Knowledge is free. Credits cost money.
Knowledge costs time.
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Using AI to teach the course... (Score:2, Insightful)
about AI is a little too recursive for me...
"When asked how they would deal with ten thousand students, Professor Thrun replied, 'We'll let Skynet handle the sorting and choose the best questions'"
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"When asked how they would deal with ten thousand students, Professor Thrun replied, 'We'll let Skynet handle the sorting and choose the best questions'"
So if you ask a mundane, typical question you get no answer?
It was obvious that an AI course being offered for free would be taught by AI programs. This is the perfect testing grounds for the latest generation of AI programs. Much more difficult than "what is AI, Alex?" or "who was that strange woman in your bedroom, Alex?"
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I think they'll just make an FAQ with about 15 questions and answers, which should answer almost all questions the students are expected to have.
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I think they'll just make an FAQ with about 15 questions and answers, which should answer almost all questions the students are expected to have.
If simply reading an answer was what learning was all about, then why not just read the book and know everything?
I think the reason for recitiations and help sessions is for the interactiveness of the teacher/student experience. Eliza spitting back a canned answer to what it thinks your question is isn't teaching.
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"When asked how they would deal with ten thousand students, Professor Thrun replied, 'We'll let Skynet handle the sorting and choose the best questions'"
So if you ask a mundane, typical question you get no answer?
No, Skynet sends a Terminator to the past to kill your mum for wasting Professor Thrun's time.
this is great! (Score:3)
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Why would you have to live in Massachusetts to go to Stanford?
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Being that Stanford in is California and not in Massachusetts, I'd say you are the winner since Artificial Intelligence will never be a match for Genuine Stupidity.
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What's your deal?
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=2359264&cid=36951064
Level of education (Score:1)
I already learned (thanks Wikipedia!) that Stanford is not part of the ivy league, though :)
24/7 access to fellow smart people (Score:2)
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Anyways, the true value of a university is measured by the level of knowledge/wisdom/insight that
iTunes U offers many classes ... (Score:2)
Interesting. Now is a good chance to find out for one-self if the famous USA universities really are as elite as their reputation. And I will learn basics of AI at the side! I already learned (thanks Wikipedia!) that Stanford is not part of the ivy league, though :)
Actually you've been able to do this for a while. Check out iTunes U, http://www.apple.com/education/itunes-u/what-is.html [apple.com].
:-)
FWIW, Ivy League is a marketing gimmick.
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Or don't check it out with iTunes. http://academicearth.org/ [academicearth.org]
I've got to give it to Standford and MIT (and all of the other schools who have contributed to open courseware). They have done a service to everyone.
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Great. What does that have to do with Stanford which is not part of the Ivy League group of schools [wikipedia.org]? It is lumped in to what is called "Ivy Plus" but that's not the same thing.
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At the top universities, it will be the authors themselves teaching you the material direct from fresh research papers. Other places, they will be teaching you from other peoples books.
The bigger institutions tend to have larger research groups and more high-profile projects. If a smaller university does work on a niche area that becomes a new key research field, the whole research group can end up moving to a larger place.
Credit Transfers? (Score:2)
Can I earn college credit that will transfer to other institutions? That's what I want to know.
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That's actually really good value. Just having the certificate is worth something if someone wants to know if you know the subject. I'm kind of surprised they would acknowledge successful completion with anything other than a 'good job!'.
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Effectively, they're letting you audit the course for free, over the internet. You get to see the work, you can do it along with the students if you'd like, you can see your grades comparison, you can watch all the lectures,
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Peter Norvig should be a good teacher (Score:5, Interesting)
But about 20 years ago when I was really into Common Lisp, I read his book "Paradigms of Artificial Intelligence Programming: Case Studies in Common Lisp". It was one of the best books I had ever read. Lots of fantastic examples and code.
Makes me think I should get his "modern approach" book. Maybe think about the online course.
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It's really good actually. It's part of my collection in "classic" AI.
It doesn't deal with neural networks, evolution or monte carlo sadly. But it does deal greatly with the Intelligent Agent (IA) architecture, which is the foundation of any AI, classic or not. And its chapters on search is superb; and you almost always need search. (Obviously DFS, BFS, Dijkstra, A* etc., are part of normal CS curriculum, but it delves into local search which usually is not part of CS curriculum as it is non-optimal and app
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Oh, the container stowage problem is important economically and environmentally, because it shortens the time a container ship has to stay in harbor. Their research is obviously funded by that industry. Its product is simply a list of instructions to the crane operators, that results in both the fast unloading of containers, but also optimal placement; those two compliment each other.
Added it in with my thoughts of the book, because they based it on some of the theory of the book. Almost same algorithm, but
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Ah, it's time to update mine then. Bought it six year ago :)
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Looking forward to checking out the class. Took another AI class years ago which used this book, so I won't have to buy new material. It should be pretty good, since the course is being taught by the person that wrote the book. We'll see how it turns out, I expect a lot of people will drop the course as it actually turns out to be work. It's hard to imagine 100k people that would be interested in this sort of stuff beyond just a passing interest.
Like Music, News and other dinosaurs. (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Like Music, News and other dinosaurs. (Score:4, Insightful)
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Only because the american model runs colleges like a business. Over here in europe university is basically free. My fees this year are 1.5k. There is a benefit to universities though, you get to meet and interact with a lot of smart people. Abandoning universities entirely is not the way to go, reforming the broken model is.
Clearly you don't live in the UK, where the majority of decent universities will be charging the maximum tuition fee of £9000 per year ($14.7k at the current exchange rate). University is most definitely not free here.
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That has only changed this year though right? It used to be more like 3k before the whole economic crisis. Even at that higher price its half the average price in america and id say the total amount over 4 years might be less than one year in the high level american universities.
OTOH, lots of people go to American universities without paying tuition. I paid very little for my two four-year degrees... so little that I never borrowed a penny, or got assistance from my parents, or even had to work much.
I think lots of Europeans seriously overestimate the difficulty of attending a university in the US. The fact is that anyone who really wants to go can find a way. Those with the brains and the talent can even go to Stanford, MIT, etc. In fact many of the Ivy League schools effect
How will this scale to 10k students (Score:2)
Three words: Graduate Teaching Assistants.
Raises questions about university costs (Score:4, Interesting)
If the content of this class is exactly the same as the "real" version, and at the end you are evaluated on the grading curve right alongside "real" students... then you have to question why the cost of "really" being a Stanford student is $55,385 per year [stanford.edu], while the cost of receiving the same product without the formal diploma is $0.
How much of the expense of modern university education today is actually tied to the core product, and how much is simple sociology? That is, only a certain percentage of society can be in the "elite" ranks by definition... and so elite institutions must price themselves accordingly to maintain the appropriate exclusion.
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Stanford undergrad tuition is essentially free [stanford.edu] if your family makes less than $100k/yr. Need-based financial aid policies mean that the $55k number is an upper bound, typically paid in full only by families making $200k and above (with various exceptions, of course, but that's the general pattern). In any case, this is a grad course, so the price of undergrad tuition is not really relevant to the discussion.
Stanford CS PhD students generally have their tuition, as well as an additional stipend for living ex
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In any case, this is a grad course, so the price of undergrad tuition is not really relevant to the discussion ... This is all to say that I don't think Stanford's trying to rip anyone off here (quite the contrary, since they're providing the course for free).
[nitpick] It is in fact an undergrad course. [/nitpick]
Ultimately, I didn't so much intend to comment on the cost of elite-level education as I on the exclusivity of it. If it turns out that there are thousands of "general public" people who outscore the Stanford students on the grading curve... then on some level it would call into question why those students are "Stanford material" and the higher-scoring public members are not. We often presume that the system is a meritocracy, and what I'm basically tr
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I had to go recheck the Stanford course numbering system - looks like a 200-level is "advanced undergraduate/beginning graduate". So we're both right.
I agree that people might interpret the grades in the way you say, and that it could be a PR issue for Stanford, but I don't think it would actually be indicative of deep flaws in Stanford admissions (and here I mean undergrad admissions - my understanding is that admissions to the professional masters program mostly consist of "can you breathe, and does your
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I'm sorry about your bitterness with your career, but your sarcasm misses the point. I do not presume that $55,385 per student per year makes its way into a professor's pocket. Probably only a minuscule fraction of it does (although the amount is no doubt higher for publishing professors at the elite level than it is for those who "merely" teach at the common level). If you're looking for additional cynicism, though... I'm sure the professor is partially motivated by book sales. He wrote the textbook, i
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I understand that reading the OP tripped a trigger. In your place, I'd might could feel, and react, the same. The AC is also maybe understandable, given all the Grundies extant.
Before anything else, I gotta say that textbooks have always been over-priced, even allowing for the real costs associated with them. It's a racket, no matter how much the publishers claim that small-market book costs must be borne onto more widespread basic texts. That discussion predates my student days in the mid-Sixties. If
Online enrollment is open? Really? (Score:2)
TFS says that the online enrollment is open. I couldn't find any way to enroll, only a page [ai-class.com] where you can enter your name and email to "sign up [...] to receive more information about the online version when it becomes available". Am I missing something? Does anyone have a link to where you can truly enroll for the free version of the course?
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Artificial Intelligence Course in college... (Score:2)
One thing that i havent looked at closely was that it was noted on one of the links that there were some prerequisites that the students had to meet before taking this course. I'm not sure what th
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Well, it'll sell textbooks for sure... (Score:1)
The text for this book is over $100... I know textbooks are expensive, but for a course that will not lead to college credit? Isn't that a BIT excessive...?
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Probably dependent on how well you want to pass the course. I am guessing the book itself isn't useless, and that having it would greatly enhance your understanding of the subject. If you're the Chris Knight type of person, you probably don't need the book to pass anything. You just "get" it. Some people are like this, sadly most are not.
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These guys are the bomb (Score:2)
If you have any interest in A.I. you should check this out. These two guys are legendary in the A.I. world and they are not even dead! Among AI-studens Norvigs book is referred to as 'the bible'. Thrun did more make self-driving cars a reality than anybody else because he is not just very smart but also very charismatic.
Credits? (Score:1)
Can you really earn college credits by taking course on Al Gore?
Sounds like a politically oriented school.
Conflict of Interest (Score:1)
For a minute there... (Score:1)
Does this need a lot of CS knowledge? (Score:1)
Timed Conditions for Exams? (Score:1)
Just a ruse to sell books (Score:2)
nothing more.
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The same brilliant AIs that will recognize the worthy questions from students.