Last year, Finland launched a free online crash course on artificial intelligence with the aim of educating its citizens about new technology. Now, as a Christmas gift to the world, a European country is offering a six-week program that anyone can take.
Strictly speaking, this is a gift to the European Union. Finland decided to relinquish its rotating EU presidency at the end of the year and translate the course into each EU language as a gift to its people. However, there are no geographic restrictions. who You can take courses and it really does the world a favor.
The course also worked well in Finland, with more than 1% of the 5.5 million people in Scandinavia taking part. The course is called Elements of AI and is currently available in English, Swedish, Estonian, Finnish, and German.
There are already quite a few sites out there for people who want to learn the basics of AI, but if that's what you're into, Finland's service might be worth your time. It is well designed, with short tests at the end of each section, and covers a wide range of topics, from the philosophical implications of AI to technical subjects such as Bayesian probability. It takes about six weeks to complete, and each section takes him five to 10 hours.
The Finnish government said it originally designed the course to give its citizens an advantage in the field of AI. Finland has always outperformed itself in technology and education, so it seems wise to combine these two strengths. Megan Schaible of technology consultancy Reaktor, which helped design the course, said the motivation was “to prove that AI shouldn't be left in the hands of a few elite programmers.”
