The Institut Montaigne, the Abeona Foundation and Open Classrooms had joined forces to offer an online training program in French: Objectif IA. They have joined forces with UNESCO to offer a new free online course available in French and English: Destination AI, which aims to help students discover and understand the risks and benefits of AI for our society.
Today, more than half of all companies have implemented AI projects, yet many people still lack basic knowledge about the nature of AI, its risks, benefits and potential effects. At the same time, there are few young girls in technical and scientific fields, few women in scientific professions, Destination AI seeks to close these gaps to enable the next generation to take advantage of the opportunities offered by AI in the right way.
Tanya Perelmuter of the Abeona Foundation states:
“Young people understand technology because they play on their phones, but they don’t necessarily know the implications of it in terms of privacy or the risks involved. Young people are even more at risk because they use AI in a more diverse way: if they don’t know what they’re doing, they’ll be exposed to a major risk.”
Destination AI: understanding how AI works to better identify its challenges and opportunities.
Like Destination AI, this approximately 6-hour course is for everyone, including students and professionals in the private or public sector who want to take advantage of the opportunities offered by AI.
Proposed by UNESCO, the Institut Montaigne, OpenClassrooms, an online training website, and the Abeona Foundation, an association that defends equity in data science, it has received the support of AFD, AWS, Hub France IA, Ingenico, L’Oréal, La Poste, Michelin, PwC, Orange, Sanofi and Systemis.
The course includes 12 modules that cover topics such as the risks, benefits, and societal impact of AI, as well as the stages of an AI-based project and the fundamentals of machine learning.
Course authors
Anna Choury and Benjamin Ejzenberg are the co-authors of this course:
- Anna Choury is a mathematician and CEO of Maathics, a collective of researchers working on ethical AI. With her team, she created a tool that detects bias and discrimination in AI algorithms. She is also a TedX speaker and advocate for diversity in technology.
- Benjamin Ejzenberg, a data science and AI consultant in Montreal, helps clients make better use of their data and solve complex business problems using AI. He is passionate about education and has contributed to the development of multiple online courses.
The speakers
AI experts will answer questions about the current state of AI and its future:
- Yann Le Cun, a researcher in AI and computer vision, winner of the 2019 Turing Award;
- Julie Owono, Executive Director of Internet Without Borders;
- Anne Bouverot, Founder of the Abeona Foundation;
- Stuart Russell, Professor at the University of California.
The course first identifies AI applications by giving a brief overview based on everyday examples, explains what AI is and how it will continue to impact everyday life by looking at future applications. This section also provides an introduction to the key concepts associated with AI, including big data, and demystifies AI.
Tanya Perelmuter explains:
“We start by demystifying AI, explaining what it is not. This is important: if you approach someone on the street and ask them what AI is, you’re going to get very different definitions. We need to start by dispelling the myth.”
Part 2 explores the impact of AI on the workplace and society as a whole.
Milo Rignell, Head of the Digital Program at Institut Montaigne, states:
“The second part gives an overview of the potential of AI by addressing very real risks that individuals face in everyday life, as well as the fear that AI systems will one day replace their jobs. It’s very important not to define AI solely as a technical abstraction.”
The final part of the course provides an introduction to machine learning, deep learning and looks at the practical implementation of an AI project.
Translated from Destination AI, un cours en ligne gratuit pour comprendre et démystifier l’IA
