In a groundbreaking move, the University of Alberta, in collaboration with the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute, is launching 'Artificial Intelligence Everywhere', a course accessible to all undergraduates. This initiative is the first of its kind in Canada, aimed at providing essential AI literacy skills across all disciplines, thus bridging the AI skills gap and equipping students for success in a competitive job market.
Debut of groundbreaking AI literacy course
In a significant stride towards ensuring AI literacy, the University of Alberta, along with the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute (Amii), is introducing an AI course open to all undergraduates. This initiative, the first of its kind in Canada, is set to revolutionize the AI education landscape, arming students from all disciplines with vital AI skills. By doing so, the University hopes to bridge the current AI skills gap, giving its graduates a competitive edge in the job market.
Course curriculum and design
The novel course is set to commence in the winter term of January 2024. The non-technical, online-based structure is designed to cater to students from all fields of study, and will delve into the fundamentals of AI and its potential applications. The course aims to go beyond theory, offering students an understanding of the practical implications and uses of AI across various sectors.
The course curriculum is meticulously designed to give students a comprehensive overview of AI. Beginning with the history of AI and its multidisciplinary roots - stemming from psychology, animal learning, neuroscience, and computing science - students will then be introduced to the basic elements of modern AI through case studies. The course will also delve into the vital role of data collection and human inputs across multiple AI systems, ranging from classical expert systems to reinforcement learning systems that generate their own data by interacting with the world.
