In this class learners will build a chatbot from the ground up. Chatbots have become popular over the last few years. The Internet is full of automated chatbots allowing people to "talk" to a machine and get useful information. These chatbots might seem very complicated, but the truth is, they are not.
We will use "Snap!" - a visual programming language almost identical to Scratch, but more powerful. Learners who have experience with Scratch will have no learning curve. However, we will use the first session to get familiar with Snap! and some of the unique features we will be using in this chatbot project.
Structure
Week 1 - We will focus on building the core of the chatbot. Learners will get an exposure to:
- Object oriented programming
- System architecture
- Machine learning
Week 2 - We will focus on agent technologies to add new capabilities to the chatbot. Learners will create a weather agent that can get weather information from around the globe, a horoscope agent, a restaurant agent, and more. Learners will get an exposure to:
- Agent development
- Connecting to the web to retrieve information using API's and REST technologies
Other Details
Parental Guidance
"Snap!" is a further development of the Scratch programming language by University of California at Berkeley. It is designed for kids (and adults) and uses the same privacy policies (COPPA compliant) as Scratch.
Account creation is OPTIONAL. However, creating an account allows learners to save their projects to the cloud. Without an account, learners can only save their project to their computers.
Account creation uses the exact same process as Scratch. Learners will be asked for username, birthday and email. No information is shared outside of Snap. Birthday and email is never shared within Snap. Username is only shared if learners share their projects with the coding community.
External Resources
In addition to the Outschool classroom, this class uses:
Hello Fellow Learners!
My name is Mounir Shita - but you can call me Mo (trust me, it is scientifically proven to be easier to pronounce). I have been amazed and intrigued by thinking machines since I was a teenager. As an adult, I've made it my career to research and develop thinking machines.
I've spent over 20 years researching real thinking machines, built a lot of technology, started my own "AI" companies and even been involved in government "AI" programs.
In Outschool I hope to contribute to make you curious science, especially intelligent machines. I will teach classes ranging from introduction to artificial intelligence and thinking machines, to ethics (is it good or bad?) to teaching you how to build your own AI-powered games.
Are you planning to use state funding, such as an Education Savings Account (ESA), Micro-grant or scholarship to help pay for your learnerās education?