AI for Good by DeepLearning.AI Now Available

For as long as we've been inventing new technologies, people have been looking for ways to use technology to help the communities that they care about. And for centuries this has included mathematics and statistics, and in the last century it has included more modern forms of data analysis and then more recently, machine learning. The world is currently facing really complicated challenges in areas like public health, climate change and humanitarian crises. However, when it comes to problem solving, perhaps not that much has changed. Our best strategies today, just as they have been in the past, are to carefully approach the problems of our time with the best possible combination of human expertise and the right technology choices. I've been working at the intersection of humanitarian relief efforts and machine learning for about 20 years and I have seen firsthand how when we can combine modern technologies with the knowledge and expertise of crisis impacted communities, we can achieve really positive outcomes. However, I've also seen how well intentioned projects can have negative impacts when the potential risks are not considered carefully enough. So today I'm excited to share the launch of a series of courses, the AI for Good specialization, in collaboration with the Microsoft AI for Good Lab and Deep Learning AI. In these courses I will walk you through a framework for approaching any project that you want to work on out in the real world that might involve AI, whether or not it's specifically targeting human or environmental impact. You'll work through case studies focused on delivering positive outcomes given stakeholder needs, data considerations and AI capabilities and limitations in projects including air quality monitoring, wind power forecasting and disaster response. I'm delighted to put the spotlight on a number of expert guest speakers who will tell you about the projects that they are working on right now. And these are a really interesting range of projects from solar power to biodiversity monitoring, monitoring for detecting hate speech and fake news. So I hope that they give you an idea of the range of projects that you might want to work on to have a positive impact on your community or the world more broadly. And you don't need any previous expertise in AI or machine learning to be successful in these courses. We will get into some of the technical details and you will be running code and working with real data and AI solutions. But don't worry if you haven't done any of these things before. To get started in these courses you only need a strong sense of curiosity about how data and modern technology can be used to make a positive impact on people and the environment. The course is now live on Coursera, so I hope you can check them out and I can't wait to see what you build to do some good for the communities that you care about.