Links and resources for the 6 sessions in the course I’m giving at DEAR on Wednesdays at 1:15, starting on February 28, 2024. This course is really a mashup of 2 very different courses: How Computers Work under the Hood, and How Scary is Artificial Intelligence Really. Some of the AI content is an update from the course I taught at DEAR in spring 2023 (click here for links). Because AI capabilities and implications and are moving so rapidly, it’s hard to keep up…
Session 1: Background & Wetware
- Thinking Fast and Slow – Daniel Kahneman’s excellent book from 2011 on how we think, which I am using as a framework for integrating digital computers and AI. The link is to the book’s Amazon page, which has lots of good reviews and leads to buy it cheap. It’s also available on all the usual used book sites.
- False Dawn: The Babbage Engine – Video from the lecture on Charles Babbage’s difference and analytical engines.
- Turing Test Paper – Alan Turing’s original paper on the Imitation Game from 1950, which I referred to in the lecture. Turing’s original formulation of what became the Turing Test was a bit convoluted, but it’s still a fun party game!
Session 2: Hardware
- Fetch/Decode/Execute Cycle – Video I showed in class, which covers this rather arcane process in a surprisingly (to me) accessible way. I think the British accent helps…
- CPU Page – From the Learn Computer Science website. There are ads, but the content is at an appropriate level.
Session 3: Software
- p5js.org – Home site for the p5 language I demoed in class
Session 4: Devices and Connections
- Summary comparisons from class on storage devices and connection technologies, generated by Google Gemini.
Session 5: AIware
- techie_ray – I found his videos on YouTube when I was looking for accessible explanations of how diffusion-based image and video generation software worked. His videos are disarmingly clear, and his website reveals an energetic young lawyer/developer/content creator who epitomizes the tech-savvy professional of today.
Session 6: Futureware
- Marcus on AI – Chief GenAI Contrarian Gary Marcus’s substack site, which contains an archive of his widely read and controversial posts on AI. Marcus was at NYU for 23 years, following his PhD work at MIT with Stephen Pinker. He formed 2 successful AI startups and has written several books, including Taming Silicon Valley: How to Protect Our Jobs, Safety, and Society in the Age of AI, which is due out in September. His running commentary on the emergence of generative AI provides a valuable counterpoint to the hype machines of the major AI players.
- One Useful Thing – Ethan Mollack’s substack site. Mollack is a professor in U Penn’s Wharton School of Business, where he has been very proactive in using and studying the use of generative AI in his classes and in the firms where he consults. His level-headed, hype resistant perspective is very valuable in exploring the legitimate potential of generative AI.
- EU AI Act – High-level summary from the EU website of the act, which was unanimously approved in March, 2024, after years of debate.
Al Biles 