AI Programming – Useful Advices
AI is one of the greatest challenges and mysteries of humanity, the main goal of which is to create a machine that will in some way remind us. This machine will have to adapt our most impressive and amazing abilities, which allow us to perceive, filter, and distribute a huge amount of information using sensory systems.
Every time you read the newspaper or reach out for a cup of coffee, you are doing something that many machines are completely unable to do. And even more: the greatest minds of humanity still do not know how to make machines be able to do this. But the demand for such specialists who can program AI is unrealistically high. Therefore, it is necessary to understand how to learn this area from scratch.
Theory
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is not only a hype, like a blockchain, for example. Thanks to access to data and the growth in performance of cloud computing machines – the computing power for fast calculations, artificial intelligence is now taking over more and more fields of application – from medicine to participation in company supervisory boards.
Many people lack knowledge of AI today. Neither practical nor theoretical. This is a good investment in AI learning. Not only programmers but also bankers, as well as marketers, agrarians, HR specialists, call center employees, retailers, transport workers, meteorologists
For those looking to get started, here’s a list of the most popular online AI courses to take on. Perhaps, for a detailed study, it is worth first taking a course in programming, for example, Python. But at the beginning, it is not necessary.
Introduction to AI
- A large collection of AI content from Google – GOOGLE AI.
- Course “Algorithms, Part 1” from Princeton University, as a base for learning AI.
- Machine Learning course from Stanford.
The course is taught by Andrew Ng, one of the most famous specialists in the field of artificial intelligence, an assistant professor at Stanford University, who once headed the AI direction at Google (founder of the Google Brain division) and Baidu.
A better alternative might be Andrew Eun’s new project – a series of his 5 courses on Coursera covering different aspects of AI (Neural Networks and Deep Learning, Hyperparameter tuning, Regularization and Optimization, Structuring Machine Learning Projects, Convolutional Neural Networks, Sequence Models). The courses are paid, but 250,000 people took them in a year – no one else in the world taught.
Also, Udacity has prepared a basic Nanodegree AI program. The main topics are the basics of neural networks. Deeper immersion in the topic and advanced courses
- Machine Learning Course from Columbia University on eDX. Twelve weeks focusing on supervised and unsupervised learning.
- A very good course on Artificial Intelligence: Implications for Business Strategy from MIT. Worth decent money, but very practical and provides a good networking opportunity on the topic.
- An introduction to Deep learning (again from Google) at Udacity.
- A series of AI courses from Washington University.
- Artificial Intelligence: Learn How To Build An AI
- MIT: Machine learning from data to decisions
- Advanced AI: Deep Reinforcement Learning in Python
Specialized courses
- Fundamentals of Deep Learning for Computer Vision from Nvidia. The course focuses on knowledge of pattern recognition.
- A large selection of open lectures on Deep learning from MIT, including for self-driving cars.
- Math for AI – Essential Math for Machine Learning: Python Edition from Microsoft.
- Course AI in Finance for the financial industry. This is a structured online course on how to apply artificial intelligence to finance.
How to build a successful developer career
- Start coding at a very early age – you can first experiment with simple low-code tools and constructors, then move on to more complex problems.
- Track competitions, festivals, and qualifiers that are taking place online or in your area. This is a great networking opportunity that will open up new career opportunities.
- You don’t have to buy an expensive course right away from a trendy online university – explore the free options first.
- Make coding a habit. The best way to improve skills is constant practice – even if there are no training programs for developers in the city, and there is still not enough money to buy a course, you can practice on free coding simulators or solve problems on Codeforces.
- Once you’ve reached a certain level, don’t be afraid to move on. There are probably many success stories in your city when a talented developer has achieved a lot – he founded his own startup, got a job in a large successful company. In 2021, remote work has finally become the norm – you can easily start building a career in any place or city.
Practice
Writing board games is the best way to learn the principles of artificial intelligence, as fairly powerful opponents can be created through the use of simple heuristics (see Simple Board Game AI) without using complex techniques. It is possible to extend the AI of the game with “game trees” and a “minimax” algorithm. The advantageous difference in building a game from scratch is that you decide how simple or complex the algorithm is, and you can constantly change it. Of course, writing any game can be tiring, so don’t set yourself up for sky-high plans. It will be much more interesting to add and expand the capabilities of a working game than tinkering with a super algorithm of an unfinished pre-alpha.
Conclusion
Having received all the necessary knowledge, you will gain an understanding of the basics and principles of AI programming, which will allow you to become a real specialist in this field. This is not only interesting but also brings a good income and helps humanity to develop, remember this.
