Introduction to AI

Ever since I came to Finland, I have catered a desire to at least experience studying in the classroom of Aalto University which is about 5 kms from where I live now. When I started enquiring about enrolling into a full-time course, it demanded English Test Score and unfortunately my ToEFL Score expired in October 2022. Adding to this woe was the unavailability test centers for writing the English Test for admission during Spring. So, I looked for other feasible options and I came across FITech: Intro to AI(Artificial Intelligence) which is an open university course. I enrolled into this course because I wanted to be acquainted with the basics of AI to understand the recent trends and developments in this field. AI is an emerging and expanding field which made me very excited to learn it.

This course is 6 weeks long and only one class is left to attend. Attending class in person revived a lot of memories of my life as a student. It was a pleasant experience to recall days of struggle and hardship and feel grateful for all the love, help and support from people who played different roles in that part of my journey. I loved the vibes of the classroom and the way instructor taught. All the students were encouraged to ask questions, which I think is the best thing during any learning process. Any student can mail their doubts in case they encounter any of them, during studying. There are two classes in a week – one for course Lecture and the second one is that of the exercise. The lecture is taken by the Professor and the exercise class is taken by the Teaching Assistants, Postdoctoral researcher, or Doctoral fellows. Course and additional reading material are provided in student’s online profile. Recorded lectures and exercises are also made available in student’s profile. To pass the course, one must complete the quizzes after every lecture and exercise class. Guest lectures on different applications or dimensions of AI are also available to get an insight of AI.

I liked the course very much which opened with the question of what an AI is to introduce Machine learning, its derivatives, algorithms, and examples. The course has been very well designed, keeping in mind the diverse backgrounds of students who can take this course. AI is a vast topic and is now extensively used in various fields these days. The exercises classes were so interesting in contrast to my thought about how this introductory course could be non-technical. The learning process is a continuous one and it should not be confined to grading only. So, to absorb and reflect on the learnings from this course, it has been made mandatory to submit a course essay on which I’m working these days.

Last but not the least, thanks to Aalto University for this opportunity. I am grateful to Prof.Arno Solin   for awesome teaching style and TAs: Dr. Marcus Klasson ,Rui Li, Riccardo Mereu, Haishan Wang for clarifying my doubts so patiently. I am looking forward to expanding my knowledge in this field.

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Swati Sarangi

10.04.2023