How to Start Learning Artificial Intelligence

I keep receiving the same question from friends and colleagues: “Could you please guide me on how to start learning Artificial Intelligence?”. So, I’m going to dedicate this week’s edition of #EverydAI to answering this question…

Quoting NVIDIA 's CEO Jensen Huang : “I encourage you to engage with AI, the most consequential technology of our time… the only technology that I’ve known that is advancing on multiple exponentials at the same time…”

When I first decided to focus my career on artificial intelligence I was seriously considering getting my PhD. Then I quickly realized that I was better off learning from shorter more up-to-date sources. The AI field is evolving so fast, that there is no formal long-term curriculum that can keep up…

I started with the MIT Sloan School of Management "Artificial Intelligence: Implications for Business Strategy" program. Even if some of the videos in the curriculum were recorded a few years ago and, as expected, not totally current, the instructors would share with us amazing articles and YouTube videos to complement the learning materials. As a result, I gained a comprehensive understanding of the past, present and future of AI, including the main acronyms, technology evolution and key players.

With the fundamentals covered, I had a strong foundation to build upon. Next, I decided to continue my education as follows:

1. Getting more savvy on specific AI topics, starting with GenAI. I’d recommend the trainings below:

a. edX “Generative AI for Business Leaders” certification

b. IBM and Coursera online courses

c. OpenAI’s blog: the parent company of ChatGPT keeps an active communication with the AI community, a great source for updates

2. Keeping current on how AI is impacting sectors of your interest. Most industry publications now have dedicated reporting on AI. I’m subscribed to:

a. AdAge (for advertising and media updates)

b. TechCrunch (for technology updates)

c. SmartBrief (for broadcasting and entertainment content updates)

3. Attending AI conferences throughout the world. This has been an amazing experience, that has allowed me to learn about the latest AI trends from leaders and scientists who are actually developing the technology, and also meet new colleagues who have launched startups doing impressive work with AI. So far, I’ve attended the following conferences:

a. World Summit AI Americas (Montreal, Canada – April 2024): it opened my mind about the importance of making sure that AI does good for humanity…

b. GenAI Summit (San Francisco, CA – May 2024): all the Silicon Valley AI brains were on stage!

c. AI Con USA (Las Vegas, NV – June 2024): technical event for developers, I got hands-on with Python coding…

d. FemInno GenAI Summit (Erevan, Armenia – July 2024): where I had the honor of being a keynote speaker!

Hope this is helpful! Take the first step... And don’t forget to follow me on Linkedin and subscribe to my weekly newsletter! I’ll continue making AI simple for you, and keeping you up-to-date on the latest trends… #BetterAI for a #BetterWorld VxM AI