Google will teach you about AI and machine learning for free

These days, you can’t open a tech blog without seeing headlines about artificial intelligence and machine learning (there is a difference). Google knows that many folks don’t have a clue how these technologies work, even people in technology industries where AI and machine learning are going to be incredibly useful, such as app development.

To combat this, Google launched a new site called Learn with Google AI. This information hub will be a place where people can “learn about core ML concepts, develop and hone your ML skills, and apply ML to real-world problems.” The site is technical in nature, but it is intended to be a resource for everyone, from advanced researchers to total beginners.

But the crown jewel of the site is the Machine Learning Crash Course. When Google first started pursuing ML/AI technologies, it created the MLCC as an internal resource for its employees. Now the company has posted the entire, 15-hour course online for free, available for anyone to take.

Google emphasizes that the course can be taken and understood by anyone, but to really get the most out of it you should understand intro-level algebra and have some basic programming ability.

This is only the beginning of what the Learning with Google AI site has in store. The company hopes to add more courses like the MLCC to the site in the future, creating a central repository for ML/AI education.

“AI can solve complex problems and has the potential to transform entire industries, which means it’s crucial that AI reflect a diverse range of human perspectives and needs,” says Google’s Zuri Kemp. “That’s why part of Google AI’s mission is to help anyone interested in machine learning succeed.”