
This lecture introduces what this course is about and outlines how the lessons/topics will be sequenced. The intention of this course is to solidify the fundamentals and to clarify pervasive confusion and misconceptions about AI and Machine Learning.
In this lecture we explain the option of downloading the whole course in audio format from this lecture. Once you enrol in the course you will have access to download your zip file from this lecture containing all the lectures in mp3 format.
This lesson is your opportunity to share something about yourself with the rest of the students in this course, and see more about other students and their goals. Tell us all about your goals and what you want to achieve. You can come back to this board and add more thoughts as you go through the course and achieve your goals. Seeing all the other students in the course will also motivate you and keep you going as you participate in this community of learning.
Remember: take action! Achieve your goals, best wishes from your instructor team
Throughout this course we will celebrate your progress at 25%, 50%, 75% and 100%. I really want you to succeed but you need to take action and keep going so look forward to these milestones of progress. I will see you there and cheer you on as you keep going from one milestone to the next >>
In this lesson, I introduce AI at a high level. I slowly introduce the fact that AI systems such as ChatGPT and Bard do not yet have human-like intelligence. I also introduce the topic of machine learning and how this is different to AI.
In this lesson, I discuss why programmes that are created through a machine-learning process, are radically different to programmes that have been developed in the classical or traditional way. Machine learning turns classical software development on its head. In this lesson, you'll begin to understand why.
In this lesson, I go into more detail about how machine learning completely turns the classical software development process on its head. And to effectively illustrate this, I start touching on some of the mathematics that replaces conventional programming code.
In this lesson, I go a bit further with the mathematics and function-approximation concepts behind machine learning. This is necessary because it paves the way toward understanding the role that neural networks play in Machine Learning. So, I touch on artificial neural networks in this lesson as well. I also introduce the concepts of encoding and decoding between numeric and non-numeric data such categorical or image data. Machines and Mathematics work with numbers. The ability to encode non-numeric data into something that a machine can understand is therefore a crucial concept to understand.
In this lesson, I discuss the 3 main machine learning techniques. These are Supervised, Unsupervised and Reinforcement Learning techniques. And to clearly explain the differences between these learning techniques, I carefully introduce important and fundamental concepts such as algorithms, models, features, labels, reinforcement learning agents, and rewards.
In this lesson, I discuss Deep Learning, Deep Neural Networks and mathematical function approximation. This lesson focusses on how neural networks can approximate the functions and models used by AI systems. But it does not cover the training of the neural network. Those are advanced topics for future lessons.
This lesson introduces the powerful role of reinforcement learning and AI-driven personalization in transforming recommendation systems across entertainment, e-commerce, and loyalty programs. By examining real-world examples from Netflix, Spotify, and leading retailers, it highlights how personalized recommendations significantly enhance customer engagement and business profitability.
Here, we introduce the core principles of reinforcement learning or RL, highlighting its focus on long-term outcomes and sequential decision-making. We show why RL is uniquely suited for loyalty programmes by discussing how it can continuously learn and adapt based on user interactions and feedback.
Here, we introduce the core principles of reinforcement learning or RL, highlighting its focus on long-term outcomes and sequential decision-making. We show why RL is uniquely suited for loyalty programmes by discussing how it can continuously learn and adapt based on user interactions and feedback.
This lesson focuses on practical adoption, showcasing how leading companies have attempted to leverage RL in coalition reward programmes, credit card offers, and retail loyalty ecosystems. We discuss the tangible benefits, common pitfalls, and emerging trends in applying RL-based personalization strategies to drive sustained customer engagement.
This video introduces the speakers/specialists, Irlon and Eric. The high-level agenda/script is attached as a PDF. Irlon's responses to the questions outlined in the agenda are summarised in the attached PowerPoint presentation.
This lesson introduces ML.Net and Model Builder, the free graphical tool that we'll use to go through a supervised machine learning process, without the need for any coding. This lesson also outlines the approach that will be taken during the subsequent 13 lessons. It provides a visually detailed explanation of the major components and sequence of topics that will be covered.
Throughout this course we will celebrate your progress at 25%, 50%, 75% and 100%. I really want you to succeed but you need to take action and keep going so look forward to these milestones of progress. I will see you there and cheer you on as you keep going from one milestone to the next >>
This video shows you how to launch Visual Studio and create a basic class library project. In the next lesson, we'll add machine learning capability to this code library. This video also provides explanations about project templates, solutions, dynamically linked library files, and the .Net Framework. Once a project is created, this video provides a summary of the most important windows in the Visual Studio interface:
The Solution Explorer Window,
The Code Editor Window, and
The Output Window.
This video will show you what types of machine learning tasks Model Builder can automate for you. This video covers concepts like classification, regression, and recommendation-type tasks, that machine-learning models are ideally suited for. This video also provides a quick overview of the different computing resources (CPU, GPU, or Cloud) that can be configured for training a model.
This video covers the essential aspects of preparing your data for training. Data transformation concepts such as encoding and feature scaling are explored.
This video covers a few important concepts related to training a model. In particular, it covers algorithms, trainers, and evaluation metrics.
This course provides the essential foundations for any beginner who truly wants to master AI and machine learning. Crucial, foundational AI concepts, all bundled into one course. These concepts will be relevant for years to come. Mastering any craft, requires that you have solid foundations. Anyone who is thinking about starting a career in AI and machine learning will benefit from this. Non-technical professionals such as marketers, business analysts, etc. will be able to effectively converse and work with data scientists, machine learning engineers, or even data scientists if they apply themselves to understanding the concepts in this course.
Many misconceptions about artificial intelligence and machine learning are clarified in this course. After completing this course, you will understand the difference between AI, machine learning, deep learning, reinforcement learning, deep reinforcement learning, etc.
The fundamental concepts that govern how machines learn, and how machine learning uses mathematics in the background, are clearly explained. I only reference high school math concepts in this course. This is because neural networks, which are used extensively in all spheres of machine learning, are mathematical function approximators. I therefore cover the basics of functions, and how functions can be approximated, as part of the explanation of neural networks.
This course does not get into any coding, or complex mathematics. This course is intended to be a baseline stepping stone for more advanced courses in AI and machine learning.