How to start learning about algorithms – AI in Media and Society

After writing yesterday's post, I was thinking about how much students should know about algorithms if they are to have a basic understanding of how AI works. Is it enough to tell them an algorithm is a set of instructions? So I turned, as I often do, to Khan Academy -- a free online learning site that often helps me through my lack of a mathematics background. I found a set of three short lessons, starting with a video. In the introductory video, "What is an algorithm and why should you care?", we see various practical uses of algorithms, followed by the statement above, and a brief description of how route finding works -- what Google Maps does when it gives you directions.