Artificial intelligence (AI) is a modern-day monolith that is likely going to be as important to the world as the introduction of the internet. We already see it creeping into every aspect of industry, from the basic chatbots you find on many websites to the self-driving cars under production at companies like Tesla.

As an industry, AI looks set to zoom past its current global valuation of $100 billion, becoming worth a staggering $2 trillion by 2030. To ensure you enjoy a prosperous career in an increasingly computer-powered world, you need to learn about AI. That’s where each artificial intelligence tutorial in this list can help you.

Top AI Tutorials for Beginners

If you know nothing about AI beyond the name, these are the three tutorials to get you started with the subject.

Tutorial 1 – Artificial Intelligence Tutorial for Beginners: Learn the Basics of AI (Guru99)

You need to get to the grips with AI theory before you can start with more practical work. Guru99’s tutorial helps you there, with a set of 11 lessons that take you from the most basic of concepts (what is AI?) to digging into the various types of machine learning. It’s like a crib notes version of an AI book, as it takes you on a speedy flight through AI fundamentals before capping its offer with a look at some practical applications.

Key Topics

  • The basic theory of AI and machine learning
  • Different types of machine learning algorithms
  • An introduction to neural networking

Why Take This Artificial Intelligence Tutorial?

The tutorial is completely free, with every lesson being accessible via the Guru99 website with the click of a mouse. It’s also a great choice for complete AI newbies. You’ll cover the basics first, getting a grounding in AI in the process, before moving on to more complicated aspects of machine learning.

Tutorial 2 – Artificial Intelligence Tutorial for Beginners (Simplilearn)

This 14-lesson tutorial may seem intimidating at first. However, those 14 lessons only take an hour to complete, and the course has no prerequisites. This combination of brevity and a lack of tutorial requirements make it ideal for beginners who want to get to grips with the theory of AI. It’ll also help you develop some programming skills useful in more advanced courses.

Key Topics

  • Basic programming skills you can use to develop AI models
  • An introduction to Big Data and Spark
  • Basic AI concepts, including machine learning, linear algebra, and algorithms

Why Take This Artificial Intelligence Tutorial?

Many of the tutorials you come across online will ask you to have a basic understanding of probability theory and linear algebra. This course equips you with those skills, in addition to giving you a solid grounding in many of the AI concepts (and machine learning models) you’ll encounter when you reach the intermediate level. Think of it as a crash course in the basics of AI.

Top AI Tutorials for Intermediate Learners

If you have a grasp of the basics, meaning you can separate your supervised learning algorithms from your unsupervised ones, you’re ready for these intermediate-level tutorials.

Tutorial 1 – Intro to Artificial Intelligence (Udacity)

Don’t let the use of the word “intro” in this tutorial’s name fool you because this is more than a mere explanation of AI concepts. As a four-month course, it requires you to have a good understanding of concepts like linear algebra and probability theory. Assuming you have that understanding, you’ll embark on a four-month self-paced learning journey (that’s completely free) that delves deep into the applications of AI.

Key Topics

  • The theoretical and practical applications of natural language processing
  • How AI has uses in every aspect of modern life, from advanced research to gaming
  • The fundamentals of AI that underpin the practical applications you learn about

Why Take This Artificial Intelligence Tutorial?

The price tag is right, as this is one of the few Udacity courses you can take without spending any money. It’s also created by two of the best minds in AI – Peter Norvig and Sebastian Thrun – who deliver a nice mix of content, including instructor-led videos, quizzes, and experiential learning. Granted, there’s a large time commitment. But that commitment pays off as the course delivers a solid understanding of AI’s fundamentals and practical applications.

Tutorial 2 – Natural Language Processing Specialization (Coursera)

Anybody who’s used ChatGPT or “spoken” to a chatbot knows that a lot of companies are interested in what AI can do to deliver written content. That’s where Natural Language Processing (NLP) comes in, and this course is ideal for understanding the techniques that allow you to build chatbots and similar technologies.

Key Topics

  • How to use logistic regression (and other techniques) to conduct sentiment analysis
  • Build autocomplete and autocorrect models
  • Discover how to develop AI algorithms that both detect and use human language

Why Take This Artificial Intelligence Tutorial?

Specialization is the key as you get deeper into the AI field. With this course, you focus your learning on language models and NLP, allowing you to dig deeper into an in-demand field that offers plenty of career opportunities. It’s somewhat intensive, requiring four months of study at about 10 hours per week to complete. But you get a shareable certificate at the end and develop a foundation in NLP that can apply in many business areas.

Top AI Tutorials for Advanced Learners

By the time you reach the advanced stage, you’re ready for your AI tutorials to teach you how to build and operate your own AI.

Tutorial 1 – Artificial Intelligence A-Z 2023: Build an AI With ChatGPT4 (Udemy)

With backing from a successful Kickstarter campaign, the Artificial Intelligence A-Z tutorial covers some of the fundamentals but focuses mostly on practical applications. You’ll create several types of AI, including a snazzy virtual self-driving car and an AI designed to beat simple games, helping you get to grips with how to put the theory you’ve learned into practice. The tutorial comes with 17 videos, a trio of downloadable resources, and 20 articles. All of which you can access whenever you need them.

Key Topics

  • How to build practical AIs that actually do things
  • The fundamentals of complex topics, such as Q-Learning
  • How Asynchronous Advantage Actor Critic (AC3) applies to modern AI

Why Take This Artificial Intelligence Tutorial?

The two main reasons to take this tutorial are that it gives you hands-on experience with some exciting AI concepts, and you get a certificate you can put on your CV when you’ve finished. It’s well-structured and popular, with almost 204,000 students having already taken it from all over the world. And at just £59.99 (approx. €69), you get a lot of bang for your buck with videos, articles, and downloadable resources.

Tutorial 2 – A* Pathfinding Tutorial – Unity (YouTube)

Many prospective game developers will get their start with Unity, which is a free development tool that you can use to create surprisingly complex games. This YouTube tutorial series includes 10 videos, which walk you through how to use the A* algorithm to program AIs to determine the paths characters follow in a video game. It requires some programming knowledge, specifically C#, but it’s ideal for those who want to use their AI skills to transition into the world of gaming.

Key Topics

  • Using the A* algorithm to create paths for AI-driven characters in video games
  • Movement smoothing and terrain-related penalties
  • Using multi-threading to improve pathfinding performance

Why Take This Artificial Intelligence Tutorial?

The price is certainly right for this tutorial, as the course creator (Sebastian Lague) makes all of his videos free to view on YouTube. But the biggest benefit of this tutorial is that it introduces complicated concepts that game developers use to determine character movement. If you’re interested in what makes video game characters “work” in terms of their actions in a game, this tutorial shows you the algorithm that underpins it all.

Additional AI Resources

The six tutorials in this list run the gamut from introducing you to the basics of AI to demonstrating specialized applications of the technology. Building on that knowledge requires you to go further, with the following books, podcasts, and websites all being great resources.

Great AI-Related Books

  • Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach (Peter Norvig and Stuart Russell)
  • Python: Advanced Guide to Artificial Intelligence (Giuseppe Bonaccorso)
  • Neural Networks and Deep Learning (Charu C Aggarwal)

Great AI-Related Podcasts

  • The AI Podcast (Noah Kravitz)
  • Artificial Intelligence: AI Podcast (Lex Fridman)
  • Eye on AI (Craig Smith)

Great AI-Related Websites and Blogs

  • MIT News
  • Analytics Vidhya
  • KDnuggets

Understand Complex Concepts With an Artificial Intelligence Tutorial

AI is one of the world’s fastest-growing industries, with the previously-mentioned $2 trillion 2030 valuation representing a 20-fold growth from today. The point? Getting in close to the ground floor now by developing your understanding of AI concepts will set you up for a future in which many of the best jobs are in the AI field.

Each artificial intelligence tutorial in this list offers something different to students, from beginners who want to get to grips with AI to those who have a decent understanding and are ready to specialize. Regardless of the course you choose, the most important thing is that you keep learning. AI won’t stay static. It’s like a runaway locomotive that’s going to keep plowing forward, with nothing to stop it, to its next evolution. Use these tutorials to learn both basic and advanced concepts, then build on that learning with continued education.

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New OPIT Degrees launching (soon)!
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Riccardo Ocleppo
Nov 29, 2023 2 min read

 

Soon, we will be launching four new Degrees for AY24-25 at OPIT – Open Institute of Technology
I want to offer a behind-the-scenes look at the Product Definition process that has shaped these upcoming programs.

🚀 Phase 1: Discovery (Late May – End of July)

Our journey began with intensive brainstorming sessions with OPIT’s Academic Board (Francesco Profumo, Lorenzo Livi, Alexiei Dingli, Andrea Pescino, Rosario Maccarrone) . We also conducted 50+ interviews with tech and digital entrepreneurs (both from startups and established firms), academics and students. Finally, we deep-dived into the “Future of Jobs 2023” report by the World Economic Forum and other valuable research.

🔍 Phase 2: Selection – Crafting Our Roadmap (July – August)

Our focus? Introducing new degrees addressing critical workforce shortages and upskilling/reskilling needs for the next 5-10 years, promising significant societal impact and a broad market reach.
Our decision? To channel our energies on full BScs and MScs, and steer away from shorter courses or corporate-focused offerings. This aligns perfectly with our core mission.

💡 Focus Areas Unveiled!

We’re thrilled to concentrate on pivotal fields like:

  • Cybersecurity
  • Advanced AI
  • Digital Business
  • Metaverse & Gaming
  • Cloud Computing (less “glamorous”, but market demand is undeniable).

🎓 Phase 3: Definition – Shaping the Degrees (August – November)

With an expert in each of the above fields, and with the strong collaboration of our Academic Director, Prof. Lorenzo Livi , we embarked on a rigorous “drill-down process”. Our goal? To meld modern theoretical knowledge with cutting-edge competencies and skills. This phase included interviewing over 60+ top academics, industry professionals, and students and get valuable, program-specific, insights from our Marketing department.

🌟 Phase 4: Accreditation and Launch – The Final Stretch

We’re currently in the accreditation process, gearing up for the launch. The focus is now shifting towards marketing, working closely with Greta Maiocchi and her Marketing and Admissions team. Together, we’re translating our new academic offering into a compelling value proposition for the market.

Stay tuned for more updates!

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Five Reasons to Study Online at OPIT
OPIT - Open Institute of Technology
OPIT - Open Institute of Technology
Nov 29, 2023 9 min read

Far from being a temporary educational measure that came into its own during the pandemic, online education is providing students from all over the world with new ways to learn. That’s proven by statistics from Oxford Learning College, which point out that over 100 million students are now enrolled in some form of online course.

The demand for these types of courses clearly exists.

In fact, the same organization indicates that educational facilities that introduce online learning see a 42% increase in income – on average – suggesting that the demand is there.

Enter the Open Institute of Technology (OPIT).

Delivering three online courses – a Bachelor’s degree in computer science and two Master’s degrees – with more to come, OPIT is positioning itself as a leader in the online education space. But why is that? After all, many institutions are making the jump to e-learning, so what separates OPIT from the pack?

Here, you’ll discover the answers as you delve into the five reasons why you should trust OPIT for your online education.

Reason 1 – A Practical Approach

OPIT focuses on computer science education – a field in which theory often dominates the educational landscape. The organization’s Rector, Professor Francesco Profumo, makes this clear in a press release from June 2023. He points to a misalignment between what educators are teaching computer science students and what the labor market actually needs from those students as a key problem.

“The starting point is the awareness of the misalignment,” he says when talking about how OPIT structures its online courses. “That so-called mismatch is generated by too much theory and too little practical approach.” In other words, students in many classes spend far too much time learning the “hows” and “whys” behind computerized systems without actually getting their hands dirty with real work that gives them practical experience in using those systems.

OPIT takes a different approach.

It has developed a didactic approach that focuses far more on the practical element than other courses. That approach is delivered through a combination of classroom sessions – such as live lessons and masterclasses – and practical work offered through quizzes and exercises that mimic real-world situations.

An OPIT student doesn’t simply learn how computers work. They put their skills into practice through direct programming and application, equipping them with skills that are extremely attractive to major employers in the tech field and beyond.

Reason 2 – Flexibility Combined With Support

Flexibility in how you study is one of the main benefits of any online course.

You control when you learn and how you do it, creating an environment that’s beneficial to your education rather than being forced into a classroom setting with which you may not feel comfortable. This is hardly new ground. Any online educational platform can claim that it offers “flexibility” simply because it provides courses via the web.

Where OPIT differs is that it combines that flexibility with unparalleled support bolstered by the experiences of teachers employed from all over the world. The founder and director of OPIT, Riccardo Ocleppo, sheds more light on this difference in approach when he says, “We believe that education, even if it takes place physically at a distance, must guarantee closeness on all other aspects.” That closeness starts with the support offered to students throughout their entire study period.

Tutors are accessible to students at all times. Plus, every participant benefits from weekly professor interactions, ensuring they aren’t left feeling stuck on an educational “island” and have to rely solely on themselves for their education. OPIT further counters the potential isolation that comes with online learning with a Student Support team to guide students through any difficulties they may have with their courses.

In this focus on support, OPIT showcases one of its main differences from other online platforms.

You don’t simply receive course material before being told to “get on with it.” You have the flexibility to learn at your own pace while also having a support structure that serves as a foundation for that learning.




Reason 3 – OPIT Can Adapt to Change Quickly

The field of computer science is constantly evolving.

In the 2020s alone, we’ve seen the rise of generative AI – spurred on by the explosive success of services like ChatGPT – and how those new technologies have changed the way that people use computers.

Riccardo Ocleppo has seen the impact that these constant evolutions have had on students. Before founding OPIT, he was an entrepreneur who received first-hand experience of the fact that many traditional educational institutions struggle to adapt to change.

“Traditional educational institutions are very slow to adapt to this wave of new technologies and trends within the educational sector,” he says. He points to computer science as a particular issue, highlighting the example of a board in Italy of which he is a member. That board – packed with some of the country’s most prestigious tech universities – spent three years eventually deciding to add just two modules on new and emerging technologies to their study programs.

That left Ocleppo feeling frustrated.

When he founded OPIT, he did so intending to make it an adaptable institution in which courses were informed by what the industry needs. Every member of its faculty is not only a superb teacher but also somebody with experience working in industry. Speaking of industry, OPIT collaborates with major companies in the tech field to ensure its courses deliver the skills that those organizations expect from new candidates.

This confronts frustration on both sides. For companies, an OPIT graduate is one for which they don’t need to bridge a “skill gap” between what they’ve learned and what the company needs. For you, as a student, it means that you’re developing skills that make you a more desirable prospect once you have your degree.

Reason 4 – OPIT Delivers Tier One Education

Despite their popularity, online courses can still carry a stigma of not being “legitimate” in the face of more traditional degrees. Ocleppo is acutely aware of this fact, which is why he’s quick to point out that OPIT always aims to deliver a Tier One education in the computer science field.

“That means putting together the best professors who create superb learning material, all brought together with a teaching methodology that leverages the advancements made in online teaching,” he says.

OPIT’s degrees are all accredited by the European Union to support this approach, ensuring they carry as much weight as any other European degree. It’s accredited by both the European Qualification Framework (EQF) and the Malta Qualification Framework (MQF), with all of its courses having full legal value throughout Europe.

It’s also here where we see OPIT’s approach to practicality come into play via its course structuring.

Take its Bachelor’s degree in computer science as an example.

Yes, that course starts with a focus on theoretical and foundational knowledge. Building a computer and understanding how the device processes instructions is vital information from a programming perspective. But once those foundations are in place, OPIT delivers on its promises of covering the most current topics in the field.

Machine learning, cloud computing, data science, artificial intelligence, and cybersecurity – all valuable to employers – are taught at the undergraduate level. Students benefit from a broader approach to computer science than most institutions are capable of, rather than bogging them down in theory that serves little practical purpose.

Reason 5 – The Learning Experience

Let’s wrap up by honing in on what it’s actually like for students to learn with OPIT.

After all, as Ocleppo points out, one of the main challenges with online education is that students rarely have defined checkpoints to follow. They can start feeling lost in the process, confronted with a metaphorical ocean of information they need to learn, all in service of one big exam at the end.

Alternatively, some students may feel the temptation to not work through the materials thoroughly, focusing instead on passing a final exam. The result is that those students may pass, but they do so without a full grasp of what they’ve learned – a nightmare for employers who already have skill gaps to handle.

OPIT confronts both challenges by focusing on a continuous learning methodology. Assessments – primarily practical – take place throughout the course, serving as much-needed checkpoints for evaluating progress. When combined with the previously mentioned support that OPIT offers, this approach has led to courses that are created from scratch in service of the student’s actual needs.

Choose OPIT for Your Computer Science Education

At OPIT, the focus lies as much on helping students to achieve their dream careers as it does on teaching them. All courses are built collaboratively. With a dedicated faculty combined with major industry players, such as Google and Microsoft, it delivers materials that bridge the skill gap seen in the computer science field today.

There’s also more to come.

Beyond the three degrees OPIT offers, the institution plans to add more. Game development, data science, and cloud computing, to name a few, will receive dedicated degrees in the coming months, accentuating OPIT’s dedication to adapting to the continuous evolution of the computer science industry. Discover OPIT today – your journey into computing starts with the best online education institution available.




                            
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