The late seventies are considered as prehistoric times by most data scientists. Yet it was the beginning of a new era, with people getting their first personal computer, or at least programmable calculators like the one pictured below. The operating system was called DOS, and later became MSdos, for Microsoft Disk Operating System. You could use your TV set as a monitor, and tapes and a tape recorder (then later floppy disks) to record data. Memory was limited to 64KB.

Meet Jill Watson, a first-time teaching assistant at Georgia Tech assigned to moderate an online forum for a computer science class. Jill was 1 of 9 TAs assigned to help answer questions about coursework and projects from the 300 students enrolled in the advanced course. During the first few weeks in January, Jill really struggled. This was Knowledge-Based Artificial Intelligence, after all, a course with the goal to "build AI agents capable of human-level intelligence and gain insights into human cognition." It was also a requirement for graduate students to earn their master's degree. It's no surprise then that she needed some coaching, especially since feedback is so critical to student success.

Data Science Middle East (#DSME) in partnership with PAPIs are excited to announce this 2-day hands-on Machine Learning Workshop. Most Machine Learning courses are given from the perspective of a researcher/academic and focus on the theory and mathematics of the machine learning models. This workshop takes the perspective of learning by working on real machine learning problems using open source tools and platforms. We'll go all the way from data preparation to the integration of predictive models in applications and their deployment in production. "Just like development where you don't need to know a thing about computability or big-O notation to write code and ship useful and reliable software, you can work machine learning problems end-to-end without a background in statistics, probability and linear algebra."

Machine learning can eliminate the need for a lot of programming. These first steps simplify the daunting process of applying it to your business. Even with advances in machine learning (ML) techniques, computing power and programming accessibility in the last five years, approaching an ML question can be a daunting process. How do you take reams of messy, unstructured or incomplete data and turn it into something of value? This is a question my company -- a machine learning solutions provider -- has been working on for years, and one that I've spent a lot of time thinking about.

Between the University of Washington, a thriving tech community, and strong research institutions, like the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence (AI2), many of the rapid developments in AI are playing out in Seattle. Perhaps that's why the White House has selected the Emerald City for its first public workshop on artificial intelligence. The Office of Science and Technology Policy will co-host the first of four events on artificial intelligence at the University of Washington May 24. The workshop, put on by the UW's Tech Policy Lab and School of Law, will explore issues such as policy, logistical applications, and safety, as they relate to AI. Speakers include AI2 CEO and UW Professor of Computer Science and Engineering Oren Etzioni, White House Deputy U.S. CTO Edward Felten, Microsoft Principal Researcher Kate Crawford, and other industry experts. The workshops are intended "to spur public dialogue on artificial intelligence and machine learning and identify challenges and opportunities related to this emerging technology," writes Felton in a White House blog post.

January 28, 2016 Abstract: GT Watson is a set of cognitive systems designed, developed and deployed at Georgia Tech on top of IBM's Watson cognitive system. It includes cognitive systems for question answering in support of biologically inspired design, ecological modeling, and education and training in artificial intelligence. GT Watson adds layers of semantic processing to Watson and explores the use of external data sources. For example, in the project on ecological modeling, it exploits Smithsonian Institution's Encyclopedia of Life, the world's largest database of biological species. In this team talk, we will present several instances of GT Watson .

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Sabrina Knight's second-grade students at a Brooklyn public school receive lessons in coding. Some school districts in the United States are attempting to expand computer science education while the Obama administration is pushing to bring the subject to every public school in the nation. On a recent Friday afternoon at a Brooklyn public school, the children of Sabrina Knight's second-grade class listened intently as she used a peanut butter and jelly sandwich to talk about algorithms. Moments later, a student volunteer walked back and forth across the room to demonstrate looping, a technical term used in the field of computer programming. "Thumbs up if you got it," Knight said, as a flurry of 7- and 8-year-old hands and thumbs shot up in the air.

Professor Damith Herath will speak about artificial intelligence and robotics at King O'Malley's Pub on May 25 as part of Canberra's first Pint of Science series. Canberra will raise a glass to a fresh take on politics in the pub this week as the Pint of Science festival debuts in the capital. The national series, funded by the Australian Department of Industry, Innovation and Science and the ACT government, brings some of the most brilliant scientists into city pubs to discuss their latest research and field questions about their findings. The action will begin on Monday at King O'Malley's in Civic. For just 5 punters can delve into how we learn and the power of the brain at Beautiful Mind from 7pm. At the same time on Tuesday evening ANU professor of physics Daniel Shaddock and ANU vice-chancellor Brian Schmidt will explain how we listen to and measure things in space at Ever Expanding Gravitational Pull.

Canberra will raise a glass to a fresh take on politics in the pub this week as the Pint of Science festival debuts in the capital. The national series, funded by the Australian Department of Industry, Innovation and Science and the ACT government, brings some of the most brilliant scientists into city pubs to discuss their latest research and field questions about their findings. The action will begin on Monday at King O'Malley's in Civic. For just 5 punters can delve into how we learn and the power of the brain at Beautiful Mind from 7pm. At the same time on Tuesday evening ANU professor of physics Daniel Shaddock and ANU vice-chancellor Brian Schmidt will explain how we listen to and measure things in space at Ever Expanding Gravitational Pull. And the finale event, Driven Into Crazy Stupid Love, on Wednesday from 7pm will cover self-driving cars and what the world will be like with increased human-robot interaction.