Completed Course on Data Science and Big Data Analytics at MIT xPRO

Artificial intelligence, machine learning, Big Data – these words fill our everyday vocabulary. But what are they, how are they different from each other, and exactly how do you make them work? I have often wondered about these and have read up basic concepts in the past, but this time I decided to dive in and learn about them with a bit more seriousness. And that’s how I ended up enrolling in MIT xPRO’s course on Data Science and Big Data Analytics: Making Data-Driven Decisions.

The course was everything I had hoped for, and much more. As an introductory course, I had expected to come away learning some high-level concepts of the various aspects of Artificial Intelligence. However, the course quickly took me fairly deep into the statistical models and the algorithms used to implement the various aspects of AI, making the course extremely interesting as well as challenging.

I got an appreciation for how diverse the various techniques are that make up the broader umbrella of AI, and how each technique is applied to solve such different classes of problems. The course started with Making Sense of Unstructured Data and separating classification from prediction. We went on to learn about regression models with high dimensional data and using that to draw causal inference. Next we dived deeper into classification with Machine Learning and Deep Learning (using neural networks). Having looked closely at classification problems, we explored Recommendation Systems, which are commonly used on eCommerce sites to suggest related products. After that came network models that included techniques to identify influencers on sites like Facebook, as well as learning the challenges of maps and GPS systems. Finally, we dabbled with predictive models where we used past behavior to predict future behavior, for example, the likelihood of someone making a certain number of purchases. The online lectures were well complemented with case studies to teach the topics in greater depth and allowed for hands-on time with Python code.

It was an intellectually stimulating course that really made me earn my certificate in November.