Elements of AI
The Free Course from Finland Changing the Nordics
Personally I think Elements of AI is one of the most wonderful initiatives within the field of artificial intelligence, particularly for new students such as myself. It is interesting that particularly the Nordics may get a common language of speaking about AI thanks to the course created by an initiative in Finland. It was a joint project with Reaktor and the University of Finland based on an AI strategy from 2017 that I have written about earlier.
To make AI safe we need the general population to understand applications within the field of artificial intelligence.
About Reaktor
Reaktor is an AI and tech partner for modern businesses. They offer a full range of business consultancy and agency services, built on: “…exceptional technological competence and unmatched execution”.
About University of Helsinki
The University of Helsinki is the oldest and largest institution of academic education in Finland. Through the ‘power of science’, the University has contributed to society, education and welfare since 1640. As such it is one of the oldest universities in the nordics.
Who created the course?
Reaktor and University of Helsinki created the course together. However The lead instructor of the course was Associate Professor Teemu Roos with industry insights from Hanna Hagström, the Director of AI at Reaktor. The course is a part of the AI Education programme of the Finnish Center for AI, and offered in cooperation with The Open University, and Mooc.fi.
It is described as Finland’s grand AI experiment
The economy minister stated in a recent article:
We’ll never have so much money that we will be the leader of artificial intelligence. But how we use it — that’s something different” — Mika Lintilä, economy minister
It originally started as a free-access university course, Finland’s “1 percent” AI scheme is now being rolled out nationally with the support of private companies and the government.
Finland claims it is:
- It is outclassed on raw resources
- Finland aspires to occupy a niche, as world leader in practical applications of AI
Teemu Roos said he came up with the idea in the summer of 2017, after hearing that the Finnish government was fishing around for help from institutions to develop “lifelong learning” — or professional training — material on AI. Together with Reaktor he purged his Introduction to AI course, which he had given to his computer science students for six years, of any elements that required programming and designed a slick website.
I have gone through it and it is truly amazing. As such today is more of a shoutout than a full article.
This is day 73 of #500daysofAI. My current focus for day 50–100 is on AI Safety. If you enjoy this please give me a response as I do want to improve my writing or discover new research, companies and projects. Please get in touch if you want to talk or discuss anything!
