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An introduction to Artificial Intelligence (short course)

A comprehensive course on AI's recent revolutionary resurgence and its potential to become commonplace in our lives.

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cottonbro studio via Pexels

In recent months there has been a revolutionary resurgence of interest surrounding AI. With the advent of ChatGPT, the most potent and advanced AI systems are readily available and within the reach of every individual. AI will become commonplace and penetrate each of our personal and professional lives. It's no longer a question of if but when. It's only a matter of time until we leap from a digital-first world into an AI-first world. 

While much of the popular conversation around AI has focused on the technology and its mind-bending capabilities, this course seeks to bring together the distinct strands of conversations around AI across technology, regulation and ethics. 

Across the six sessions, we will learn about AI from various vantage points. From a perspective of technology, history, governance and regulation as well as philosophy and ethics, we will investigate AI together. The course aims to equip you with a broad, comprehensive and thoughtful understanding of AI that ventures beyond the headlines and hype to help you appreciate some of the bigger questions AI poses. 

The course consists of six sessions spread across various topics and perspectives. Each week will focus on a key theme. As the course progresses, you'll build an understanding to delve deeper into more complex and nuanced discussions around AI.

The following topics will be covered: 

  1. The Fundamentals of AI: What is AI? How do we define it? What are some of the ways we can understand this technology? What can it do, and more importantly, what can't? This introductory session lays the groundwork for the course by defining terms, beating buzzwords, and building a conceptual understanding of AI. 
  2. From Expert Systems to Large Language Models: To understand where we are going with AI, we first need to appreciate where we are today and how we got here. In this session, we delve into the history and development of AI to learn about some of the key moments and turning points with AI. 
  3. From Research to Industry: AI will have a pervasive impact at every level of society and across every industry. In this session, we will take a look at how advances in research end up in the industry. We'll dive into how AI is affecting different industries like finance and healthcare. We'll also take a look at how AI is coming to affect more traditional industries and sectors like legal. 
  4. To Innovate or to Regulate?: The recent rise in the popularity of AI has pushed national and international regulators to try and create policies and regulations to govern the development and use of AI. Is a pro-innovation approach the right way or is a risk-averse approach safer? In this session, we’ll tour the landscape of AI governance and regulation to explore the wider question of AI’s impact on society. 
  5. On the Philosophy and Ethics of AI: The deeper philosophical and ethical questions raised by AI rarely feature in discussions. In this session, we’ll introduce the philosophy of AI to help us see where Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) and the singularity fit into the picture. We’ll also provide an overview of topics in AI Ethics to help us appreciate the deeper philosophical and ethical questions AI raises.
  6. Towards an AI Future: The final session of the course culminates in a conversation bringing together the various threads and themes covered throughout the course. We end by looking into the crystal ball of possible AI futures and work backwards to explore what we can do today to ensure the best possible AI future for everyone. 

Please note that the course will run for six 60-minute sessions on: 

  • Thursday 9 November 
  • Thursday 16 November  
  • Thursday 23 November 
  • Thursday 30 November  
  • Wednesday 6 December 
  • Thursday 7 December

The course costs £400 (£340 Ri Members and Patrons) for six sessions, including all course materials and refreshments. The system is for interest only, with no qualification, examination, or certificate of attendance at its conclusion. It is recommended for adults and young people aged 16 and over.

About the tutor

Uwais Iqbal is a Data Scientist with over half a decade's worth of experience designing and building AI systems in the legal sector. He has held roles as a Machine Learning Engineer and a Senior NLP Data Scientist at leading legal tech startups as well as a corporate innovation lab. Uwais is currently the Founder & CEO of simplexico, an AI consultancy focused on serving the legal sector with a mission to help legal professionals step into a future of collaboration with AI.

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