GREETINGS FROM SCHOOL OF MACHINES, MAKING & MAKE-BELIEVE!

We are an independent school in Berlin hovering at the intersections of art, technology, design, & human connection. We are trying to be more responsive to the digital/socio-political climate, and design courses that we think are needed in the world.

INTRODUCING BOTS AND MACHINE LEARNING:

1 JULY - 26 JULY 2019
ACUD MACHT NEU (VETERANENSTRASSE 21, 10119 BERLIN)
FOUR WEEKS, FULL-TIME IN BERLIN, GERMANY
UP TO 18 PARTICIPANTS ACCEPTED

*Bots can be understood as internet-based software applications imbued with character and persona – what Donna Haraway would describe as “materialised figurations.” Bots often follow and reinforce figurations of the humanlike, conversational, assistive and servient. We are exposed to bots daily, whether in customer service chat windows or ubiquitous and opinionated anonymous social media accounts.

MACHINE LEARNING (ML) is a branch of artificial intelligence concerned with the design of data-driven programs that autonomously demonstrate intelligent behavior in a variety of domains. ML systems are all around us. When you deposit a check, scan your fingerprint, or post a picture on social media, autonomous algorithms are deployed on the spot to sift through and make sense of your constant interactions with technology.

As computational technologies advance, bots are often mischaracterized as agents with ML, making it hard to distinguish between programmed devices and artificial intelligence. Together, we will learn about bots and ML, understand their differences and explore ways in which ML can transform bots. By integrating these separate components into a common creation, we can repurpose these tools and harness their capabilities for creative expression and empowerment.*

IN THIS COURSE, YOU WILL LEARN
- Critical and conceptual development of projects*
- History of bots on the web*
- Difference between chatbots and artbots and how to create them*
- Libraries like TensorFlow.js, ml5.js, p5.js for creating web-based ML projects*
- Runway ML, Style transfer, Pix2pix and other up-to-date ML practices possible in the browser*
- An amazing network and community of like-minded creative beings and potential future collaborators
- ** No previous experience necessary*

COURSE OUTLINE
WEEK 1: Introduction to Machine Learning, chatBots and artBots
WEEK 2: ml5.js, KNN image classifier, poseNet, Style Transfer and Pix2pix
WEEK 3: RunwayML, Sketch RNN, Doodle Classifier, tf.js, create our own Neural Network from scratch.
WEEK 4: Project development, group work, and special topics, preparing for final showcase open to the public.

WHO IS THIS PROGRAM FOR?
This course is for anyone who is interested in building creative bots and machine learning projects in the browser and programming beginners who would like to learn more about these topics. This class aims to make bots and ML more approachable for a broad audience of artists, designers, creative coders, and programming beginners.
For each model or technique, we will learn how they work, how to use them and how to train our own models. The class will balance its focus between building and understanding how bots and ML work behind the scenes.
Some familiarity with the basic concepts of programming is helpful but is not necessary. We will use ml5 in the class, which is inspired by more user-friendly programming tools such as processing and p5.js.

ABOUT THE PROGRAM: http://schoolofma.org/bots/
APPLY HERE: https://schoolofmachines.agilecrm.com/forms/4604692500447232