Class: CS 454: Data Mining and Knowledge Discovery
Course Description: This course considers the use of machine learning and data mining algorithms to discover knowledge embedded in datasets. Topics include techniques such as classification, clustering, predictive and statistical modeling.
Science fiction movies have often portrayed artificial intelligence (AI) as malicious, sentient technology belonging in a dystopian society. But could AI really just be a misunderstood, fallback villain? Starting next fall, students in the new Computer Science 454 class are taking a closer look at the potential of AI — a growing field with significant career opportunities — and a science that can offer incredible benefits for the people who use it.
This course is offered as part of the new Mathematic Sciences concentration, Statistics and Data Science. Professor of Computer Science Christopher Harris, Ph.D., who will be teaching CS 454, says the course is more about decision making than an army of robots attempting to take over the world.
“The underpinning of the class is how computers can help us make decisions. So, they’re not making decisions for us, they’re just aiding us in the decision-making process,” says Harris. “The class is about how these decisions are made with a certain amount of probability. There’s never a 100% or 0% certainty in a decision.”
Although there can be times when computers make decisions for us, usually as human beings can choose to override the decision. As an example, Harris explained that our cars can use sensors to determine if we are too close to the car in front of us and alert us if the probability of having an accident is high based on our distance and speed.
“There’s a lot of misconception about computers taking over as overlords. AI is a lot more common in our lives than people realize and most of the AI that we’re doing, in pretty much every aspect, is to help humans make decisions better,” says Harris.
Machine learning and data science are particularly interesting because they impact everyday life with benefits you can enjoy even if you aren’t a statistician or computer scientist.
“Machine learning is certainly a newer area of computer science but it’s one that if you take this CS 454 class, gives you a lot of insight in terms of how decisions are made, so there are many avenues to go from there,” Harris says. “Somebody just starting could do something very entry-level at Google, Amazon or Facebook and use data science to help make decisions, say on advertising campaigns or political campaigns.”
Harris explains that the course’s relevance for people’s daily lives is broad and opens doors for students across many avenues and fields for strong career outcomes. Students may go on to work in AI and machine learning to solve traffic jams, ease travel through GPS and even help law enforcement track down serial killers.
The next time a traffic light changes for you when you’re the only car on the road, or your grammar software correctly predicts the form of “to” that you mean, you’re experiencing the benefits of data mining and AI, explains Harris, and you are getting a glimpse of some of the fascinating work our data science majors might be developing.
—Merina Shriver
UNC will offer two new undergraduate degrees this fall — one in Statistics and another in Computer Science.
Suggested resources for exploring AI and Data Science
Basics:
Coursera Khan Academy
Practice data sets:
Kaggle
Clearly explains topics:
Machinelearningmastery.com
