My favourite courses and articles to learn about AI as a non-technical person

I have put together a short database of resources for non-technical people to get up to speed in AI . All resources are completely for free and they include:

• Best resources for learning AI in 1 day, 1 week or 1 month.
• Online courses touching upon different topics within AI/ML
• My favourite articles by topic [Politics, Healthcare, Future of Work, Security,

If you know someone who might be interested in this, feel free to tag them below or share this piece within your network.

I am planning on expanding doc and including updates for helping you stay up-to-date with what's going on in tech policy, analyses, and people to follow - which I will update every once in a while (so basically a living document). If you want to have it send me a quick note or drop a comment and I will send it over to you once I have it ready.

If you find this useful you might also enjoy my videos on YouTube or on my Instagram channel.

Introduction

When I decided that I wanted to work in tech policy one of my first questions was how I could develop tech skills.

As a recent Politics graduate, I didn't want to start a whole new university program, but rather, I wanted to find the right resources that would help me develop a conceptual understanding of emerging technologies and demystify AI.

The problem was not that there weren't any resources available, but rather, that there were just so many that it was hard to cut through the noise and understand which one was most suitable.

To start with, I tested numerous courses, short and long, read books, watched videos until I found a few that I thought were succinct but still rigorous. Below are my favourite ones.

Courses

Machine Learning for Humans - Duration: 1 Day

Chances are a pandemic has started and you are locked in at home and have one of those Sunday afternoon without plans. So what better way of spending your free day than learning something. For this I recommend: Machine Learning for Humans - E-book . As the authors describe it provides “simple, plain-English explanations accompanied by math, code, and real-world examples.” If you want to get up to speed with AI quickly I highly recommend this book. It summarizes the most important concepts of machine learning in an accessible way but still touches on some technical aspects. So it also includes a light mathematical dimension which provides more additional substance. 

This e-book is available for free but you can donate something. If you can afford it please do so as it’s an invaluable resource .

AI in a Week (1 Week) - Duration: 1 Week

Maybe you are working on a new project where you need to quickly understand some of the deeper implications of emerging technologies. I might be a little bit biased here but Oxford Insights’ AI in a week course is great for this. 

Oxford Insights asked the question: “if you devoted a week to learning about artificial intelligence, how should you spend that time?” 

The course is split into several themes and provides a combination of videos, readings, smaller tasks, and quizzes. It addresses issues such as the origins of AI , AI ethics and its future directions.

Monday: What is 'AI' and where has it come from? 

Tuesday: Concepts of Intelligence

Wednesday: How AI 'thinks'

Thursday: Ethics

Friday: Future directions

Elements of AI - Duration: 1 Month

Finally maybe you are planning a career transition into a more tech focused role. Maybe you are a social science graduate who wants to work in tech policy. Then I would highly recommend the Elements of AI course from the University of Helsinki.

The course is divided into two parts:

Introduction to AI - this will provide you with the basics of what AI is, what it is and is not capable of, and a deeper understanding of its real world implications. 

The second part of the course, ‘Building AI’ adds a slightly more technical dimension in that you will be taught how to program basic algorithms yourself. You will get to know different AI methods and most importantly how these can be applied in the real world.

The developers recommend spacing the course between 4-6 weeks.

They also just published a new course which focuses specifically on the Ethics of AI - you' find this below.

All of these courses provide a great starting point for learning about emerging technologies. You can take them on their own, follow one after another or combine them with other resources that are available on the web. 

More courses

Below is a list of more courses that will help you get up to speed quickly. To be fair, I haven't tried them all myself, but most reviews I have read were very positive - so have a look and let me know which ones you found most suitable.

• The Ethics of AI - University of Helsinki - brand new course which just came out (follow up course from "Elements of AI")
• EdX Intro to Data Science - 6 weeks
• AI For Everyone - Andrew Ng - 6 hours
• MIT Artificial Intelligence Course - complete course on YouTube is here
• DataCamp - Python - First module for free, after that monthly subscription which you can cancel anytime - Good for learning some basics of coding
• Datacamp - R - First module for free, after that monthly subscription which you can cancel anytime - Good for learning some basics of coding
• R42 Group- Several masterclasses and lectures interesting especially for early stage entrepreneurs
• Learn with Google AI - various
• Columbia x edX - 12 weeks
• Udacity - Introduction to AI - 4 months
• Introduction to AI for Business - 1 hour but option to go deeper
• Edureka - Intro to AI - 5 hours

Readings by topic

Of course the fun begins once you can start applying your insights. I have always enjoyed a lot reading pieces in journals and media outlets and being able to read them through my newly acquired technical lens.

In the past years a lot of great pieces have been produced that I would really recommend you taking a look at. Below are some of my favourite articles by topic that I can recommend.

Politics

The technology that powers the 2020 campaigns, explained - by Tate Ryan Mosley

Artificial Intelligence can save democracy, unless it destroys it first - by Vyacheslav Polonski

AI & Politics - a recent interview I contributed to for AI Business Summit

Who needs democracy when you can have data? - by Christina Larson

Would AI be better at governing than politicians? - by Jackie Bischoff

Will Democracy Survive Big Data and AI? - by various authors

Health

No longer Science Fiction, AI and robotics are transforming healthcare - PwC

Risks and remedies for AI in healthcare - W. Nicholson Price II

Ethical, Social, and Political Implications of AI in Healthcare - Olly Buston, Nika Strukelj, Matthew Fenech

The inconvenient truth about AI in healthcare - Trishan Panch, Heather Mattie, Leo Anthony Cellie

Future of AI and Digital Healthcare - Financial Times Special Report

Future of Work

Economic Impacts of Artificial Intelligence - European Parliament

The economics of artificial intelligence: Implications for the future of work - Ekkehard Ernst, Rossana Merola, Daniel Samaa (ILO)

Automation and AI sound similar, but may have vastly different impacts on the future of work - Michael Gaynor

AI and the future of work - Short and concise piece by Wired

How AI can train workers for the jobs of the future - Mark Caine & Kay Firth-Butterfield

Security

Malicious use of AI report - various

New Laws of Robotic Needed to Tackle AI - Charles Onian

Global Catastrophic Risks - Global Challenges Foundation

Foundational Questions in AI Alignment - Interview with Iason Gabriel

AI and the New Age of Social Control - by myself and Henry Ajder

Disinformation

What are Deepfakes and how can you spot them? - Ian Sample

Towards Synthetic Reality: When DeepFakes meet AR/VR - by myself

The ethics of Deepfakes aren't always black and white - Henry Ajder

The State of Deepfakes: Landscape, Threats, and Impact - Henry Ajder, Giorgio Patrini, Francesco Cavalli, Laurence Cullen

Concluding thoughts

I hope this selection of courses and articles will help develop a first understanding of emerging technologies and their impact on society.

Currently, I am working on developing a longer open access Google docs which I aim to upload every once in a while. If you'd be interested in me sending it over to you , just shoot me a message.

Hit the follow/subscribe button and I'll provide you with regular updates on what goes on.