Beginner · module B2

How Artificial Intelligence Works: Data and Learning

By the end: Describe how an AI system learns from data, train and test a simple model in the browser, and explain why data quality matters

Covers: Data, how computers store it, and how machines learn from examples, without any programming
Contents: 5 chapters, 23 topics
Time: About 3 hours
Level: Beginner
Your progress: 0 / 23

This module builds on Introduction to Artificial Intelligence. We suggest looking at it first, but the choice is yours.

Chapter 1 Data: The Foundation of AI

1.1
What Is Data?
Facts collected to answer a question, and the difference between data and information
Unplugged: collect data from a group to plan an event
8 min Read Activity
1.2
Types of Data
Numbers, text, images, audio and video; structured and unstructured data
Interactive: sort data cards into types
8 min Read Activity
1.3
Collecting and Organising Data
Surveys, sensors and observation; tables, tally marks, pictographs and bar graphs
Interactive: turn survey answers into a table and a bar graph
10 min Read Activity
1.4
How Computers Store Information
Everything becomes numbers; bits, bytes and binary in simple terms
Unplugged: binary cards
10 min Read Activity
1.5
How Computers See Images
Pixels, resolution and colours stored as numbers
Interactive: build a picture pixel by pixel
10 min Read Activity
1.6
How Computers Hear Sound
Sound waves turned into numbers that a computer can store
Interactive: see a voice as a wave
6 min Read Activity

2.1
Rule-Based Systems and Learning Systems
Two ways to make a machine smart: writing rules or learning from examples
Interactive: write rules for a spam filter, then watch them fail
10 min Read Activity
2.2
Learning from Examples
How a child learns to recognise a dog, and how a machine learns the same way
Unplugged: a group trains a "human model"
8 min Read Activity
2.3
Examples, Labels and Features
Labels are the right answers; features are the clues a model uses
Interactive: choose the clues that separate apples from oranges
10 min Read Activity
2.4
Training a Model
Showing a model many labelled examples so it can find a pattern
Interactive lab: train an image model in the browser
12 min Read Activity
2.5
Testing a Model
Checking a model on new examples it has never seen
Interactive lab: test your model with new pictures
8 min Read Activity
2.6
Predictions and Confidence
A model's answer, and how sure it is about it
Interactive: read the confidence bars
8 min Read Activity
2.7
Learning from Mistakes
Feedback, more examples and better examples make a model improve
Interactive: fix a model that confuses two classes
8 min Read Activity

3.1
Supervised Learning
Learning from examples that come with correct answers
Interactive: sort messages using labelled examples
8 min Read Activity
3.2
Unsupervised Learning
Finding groups and patterns when there are no answers
Interactive: group mystery objects by similarity
8 min Read Activity
3.3
Reinforcement Learning
Learning by trial and error through rewards and penalties
Interactive game: guide a robot through a maze with rewards
8 min Read Activity

4.1
Measuring Accuracy
Counting correct answers to see how good a model is
Interactive: score a model on ten test pictures
8 min Read Activity
4.2
Learning Compared with Memorising
Why a model that only memorises fails on new examples
Discussion: practice questions compared with a real exam
6 min Read Activity
4.3
Good Data and Bad Data
Too little data, wrong labels, missing values and one-sided data
Interactive: find the problems in a dataset
8 min Read Activity
4.4
How Data Shapes What AI Learns
Data that leaves people out produces a model that is unfair to them
Unplugged: the biased bag of examples
6 min Read Activity

5.1
The AI Learning Cycle: Data, Model and Feedback
The full loop from data to prediction to improvement
Interactive: run the learning cycle step by step
8 min Read Activity
5.2
Project: Build and Test Your First AI Model
Plan, train, test and improve a picture classifier, with no programming
Guided project in the browser with a test record
20 min Read Activity
5.3
Module Review and Assessment
Recap of the module with a scored quiz
Module quiz with explanations
10 min Read Activity