BCS Foundation Certificate in

Artificial Intelligence Syllabus

Version 1.2
August 2023

This professional certificate is not regulated by the following United Kingdom Regulators -
Ofqual, Qualification in Wales, CCEA or SQA

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Contents

Change History ......................................................................................................... 3

Introduction .............................................................................................................. 4
Levels of Knowledge / SFIA Levels ........................................................................ 4
Learning Outcomes ................................................................................................. 4
Target Audience ...................................................................................................... 5
Study Format and Duration .................................................................................... 5
Eligibility for Examination ....................................................................................... 5
Examination Format and Duration .......................................................................... 6
Additional Time ........................................................................................................ 6
Guidelines for Accredited Training Organisations................................................ 6
Syllabus and Question Weightings ........................................................................ 7
Trainer Criteria ......................................................................................................... 7
Classroom Size ........................................................................................................ 7
Invigilator to Candidate Ratio ................................................................................. 7
Excerpts from BCS Books ....................................................................................... 7
Syllabus .................................................................................................................... 8
1. Ethical and Sustainable Human and Artificial Intelligence ...................................... 8
2. Artificial Intelligence and Robotics .......................................................................... 8
3. Applying the benefits of AI - challenges and risks .................................................. 9
4. Starting AI how to build a Machine Learning Toolbox - Theory and Practice ......... 9
5. The Management, Roles and Responsibilities of humans and machines ............. 9
Recommended Reading ........................................................................................ 10
Additional Reading................................................................................................. 11
Abbreviations ......................................................................................................... 13
Glossary of Terms .................................................................................................. 14

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Change History
Any changes made to the syllabus shall be clearly documented with a change history log.
This shall include the latest version number, date of the amendment and changes made.
The purpose is to identify quickly what changes have been made.

Version Changes Made

Number
V1.2 Aug SPAG changes throughout, missing publishing information added to
2023 reading list.
V1.1 Amendment to Description. Agent Modelling changed to Intelligent
Oct 2020 Agent.
V1.0 Finalised
Oct 2019
WIPV8 Draft work in progress
August 2019

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Introduction
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a methodology for using a non-human system to learn from
experience and imitate human intelligent behaviour. The BCS Foundation Certificate in
Artificial Intelligence tests a candidate’s knowledge and understanding of the terminology
and general principles of AI. This syllabus covers the potential benefits and challenges of
Ethical and Sustainable Robust Artificial Intelligence; the basic process of Machine Learning
(ML) – Building a Machine Learning Toolkit; the challenges and risks associated with an AI
project, and the future of AI and Humans in work. The Foundation Certificate includes and
expands on the knowledge taught in the BCS Essentials Certificate in AI.

Levels of Knowledge / SFIA Levels

This syllabus will provide candidates with the levels of difficulty highlighted within the
following table, also enabling them to develop the skills to operate at the highlighted level of
responsibility (as defined within the SFIA framework) within their workplace. The levels of
knowledge and SFIA levels are further explained on the website www.bcs.org/levels.

Level Levels of Knowledge Levels of Skill and Responsibility (SFIA)

7 Set strategy, inspire, and mobilise

6 Evaluate Initiate and influence
5 Synthesise Ensure and advise
4 Analyse Enable
3 Apply Apply
2 Understand Assist
1 Remember Follow

Learning Outcomes
Candidates should be able to demonstrate a knowledge and understanding in the
application of Ethical and Sustainable Artificial Intelligence:

1. Human-centric ethical and sustainable human and artificial intelligence.

2. Artificial intelligence and robotics.
3. Applying the benefits of AI projects - challenges and risks.
4. Machine learning theory and practice – building a machine learning toolbox.
5. The management, roles and responsibilities of humans and machines – the future of AI.

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Target Audience
The Artificial Intelligence Foundation Certificate is focused on individuals with an interest in,
(or need to implement) AI in an organisation, especially those working in areas such as
science, engineering, knowledge engineering, finance, education, or IT services.

The following roles could be interested:

• Engineers
• Scientists
• Professional Research Managers
• Chief Technical Officers
• Chief Information Officers
• Organisational Change Practitioners and Managers
• Business Change Practitioners and Managers
• Service Architects and Managers
• Program and Planning Managers
• Service Provider Portfolio Strategists / Leads
• Process Architects and Managers
• Business Strategists and Consultants
• Web Page Developers

Study Format and Duration

Candidates can study for this certificate in two ways:

• Attending an accredited training course. This will require a minimum of 18 hours of

study over a minimum of three days.
• Self-study. Self-study resources include online learning and recommended reading
(see syllabus Reading List).

Eligibility for the Examination

There are no specific pre-requisites for the entry to the examination, although accredited
training is strongly recommended.

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Examination Format and Duration

Type 40 Multiple choice questions

Duration 60 Minutes
Pre-requisites None, but accredited training is highly recommended
Supervised Yes
Open Book No (no materials can be taken into the examination room)
Pass Mark 26/40
Calculators No
Delivery Digital only

Additional Time
For Candidates Requiring Reasonable Adjustments Due to a Disability.

Please refer to the reasonable adjustments policy for detailed information on how and when
to apply.

For Candidates Whose Language is Not the Language of the Examination

If the examination is taken in a language that is not the candidate’s native/official language,
then they are entitled to:

▪ 25% extra time.

▪ Use their own paper language dictionary (whose purpose is translation between the
examination language and another national language) during the examination. Electronic
versions of dictionaries will not be allowed into the examination room.

Guidelines for Accredited Training Organisations

Each major subject heading in this syllabus is assigned an allocated percentage of study
time. The purpose of this is:

1) Guidance on the proportion of content allocated to each section of an accredited

course.
2) Guidance on the proportion of questions in the exam.

Courses do not have to follow the same order as the syllabus and additional exercises may
be included if they add value to the training course.

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Syllabus and Question Weighting

Syllabus Area Knowledge % Syllabus Question per

Level Weighting paper of 40
Ethical and sustainable human and K1 20% 8
artificial intelligence.
Artificial intelligence and robotics. K1 20% 8
Applying the benefits of AI - K2 15% 6
challenges and risks.
Starting AI how to build a machine K2 30% 12
learning toolbox - theory and practice.
The management, roles and K1 15% 6
responsibilities of humans and
machines.
100% 40

Trainer Criteria

Criteria • Hold the Foundation Certificate in Artificial Intelligence

• Have 3 years’ experience in related subject (including, but not limited to:
data science, high performance computing, scientific computing, data
analytics, statistics, mathematics);
• Have taught courses professionally.

Classroom Size

Trainer to candidate ratio 1:15

Invigilator to Candidate Ratio During Examination

Invigilator to candidate ratio 1: 25

Excerpts from BCS Books

Accredited Training Organisations may include excerpts from BCS books in course
materials. To use excerpts from the books, a licence from BCS is required, which will be
considered on request by contacting the Head of Publishing at BCS.

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Syllabus

Learning Objectives
1. Ethical and Sustainable Human and Artificial Intelligence (20%)

Candidates will be able to:

1.1. Recall the general definition of Human and Artificial Intelligence (AI).
1.1.1. Describe the concept of intelligent agents.
1.1.2. Describe a modern approach to Human logical levels of thinking using
Robert Dilt’s Model.

1.2. Describe what are Ethics and Trustworthy AI, in particular:

1.1.1. Recall the general definition of ethics.
1.2.1. Recall that a Human Centric Ethical Purpose respects fundamental rights,
principles, and values.
1.2.2. Recall that Ethical Purpose AI is delivered using Trustworthy AI that is
technically robust.
1.2.3. Recall that the Human Centric Ethical Purpose Trustworthy AI is
continually assessed and monitored.

1.3. Describe the three fundamental areas of sustainability and the United Nation’s
seventeen sustainability goals.

1.4. Describe how AI is part of ‘Universal Design,’ and ‘The Fourth Industrial
Revolution’.

1.5. Understand that ML is a significant contribution to the growth of Artificial

Intelligence.
1.5.1. Describe ‘learning from experience’ and how it relates to Machine Learning
(ML) (Tom Mitchell’s explicit definition).

2. Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (20%)

2.1. Demonstrate understanding of the AI intelligent agent description, and:

2.1.1. list the four rational agent dependencies.
2.1.2. describe agents in terms of performance measure, environment, actuators,
and sensors.
2.1.3. describe four types of agent: reflex, model-based reflex, goal-based and
utility-based.
2.1.4. identify the relationship of AI agents with Machine Learning (ML).

2.2. Describe what a robot is and:

2.2.1. Describe robotic paradigms,

2.3. Describe what an intelligent robot is and:

2.3.1. Relate intelligent robotics to intelligent agents.

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3. Applying the benefits of AI - challenges and risks (15%)

3.1. Describe how sustainability relates to human-centric ethical AI and how our values
will drive our use of AI will change humans, society, and organisations.

3.2. Explain the benefits of Artificial Intelligence by.

3.2.1. list advantages of machine and human and machine systems.

3.3. Describe the challenges of Artificial Intelligence, and give;

3.3.1. general ethical challenges AI raises.
3.3.2. general examples of the limitations of AI systems compared to human
systems.

3.4. Demonstrate understanding of the risks of AI project, and:

3.4.1. give at least one a general example of the risks of AI,
3.4.2. describe a typical AI project team in particular,
3.4.2.1. describe a domain expert,
3.4.2.2. describe what is ‘fit-of-purpose’,
3.4.2.3. describe the difference between waterfall and agile projects.

3.5. List opportunities for AI.

3.6. Identify a typical funding source for AI projects and relate to the NASA Technology
Readiness Levels (TRLs).

4. Starting AI how to build a Machine Learning Toolbox - Theory and Practice (30%)

4.1. Describe how we learn from data – functionality, software, and hardware,
4.1.1. List common open-source machine learning functionality, software, and
hardware.
4.1.2. Describe introductory theory of Machine Learning.
4.1.3. Describe typical tasks in the preparation of data.
4.1.4. Describe typical types of Machine Learning Algorithms.
4.1.5. Describe the typical methods of visualising data.

4.2. Recall which typical, narrow AI capability is useful in ML and AI agents’

functionality.

5. The Management, Roles and Responsibilities of humans and machines (15%)

5.1. Demonstrate an understanding that Artificial Intelligence (in particular, Machine

Learning) will drive humans and machines to work together.

5.2. List future directions of humans and machines working together.

5.3. Describe a ‘learning from experience’ Agile approach to projects

5.3.1. Describe the type of team members needed for an Agile project.

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Recommended PRE-COURSE Reading

Title: Human + Machine - Reimagining Work in the Age of AI

Author: Paul R. Daugherty and H. James Wilson,
Publisher: Harvard Business Review Press
Publication Date: 2018
ISBN: 1633693869.

Recommended POST-COURSE Reading

Title: Ethics Guidelines for Trustworthy AI
Author: High-Level Expert Group on Artificial Intelligence
Publisher: European Commission B-1049 Brussels
Publication Date: April 2019.

Title: Artificial Intelligence, A Modern Approach (3rd edition)

Author: Stuart Russell and Peter Norvig
Publisher:
Publication Date: 2016
ISBN 10: 1292153962

Title: Hands-On Machine Learning with Scikit-Learn and TensorFlow: Concepts, Tools, and
Techniques to Build Intelligent Systems
Author: Aurélien Géron
Publisher: O’Reilly
Publication Date: 2017
ISBN 1491962291

Title: The Singularity is Near

Author: Ray Kurzweil
Publisher: Duckworth Overlook
Publication Date: 2005
ISBN: 978-0715635612

Title: The Fourth Industrial Revolution

Author: Klaus Schwab
Publisher: Penguin Random House
Publication Date: 2016
ISBN: 978-0-241-30075-6

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Additional Reading – Specialist Reference List

Title: Linear Algebra and Learning from Data (1st edition)

Author: Gilbert Strang
Publisher: Wellesley-Cambridge Press
Publication Date: 2019
ISBN: 13 978-0692196380.

Title: An Introduction to Linear Algebra (5th edition)

Author: Gilbert Strang
Publisher: Wellesley-Cambridge Press
Publication Date: 2016
ISBN: 978-0-9802327-7-6

Title: Novacene: The Coming of Age of Hyperintelligence

Author: James Lovelock
Publisher: Allen Lane - Penguin
Publication Date: 2019
ISBN: 978-0-241-39936-1

Title: The Mystery of Consciousness

Author: John R. Searle
Publisher: The New York Review of Books
Publication Date: 1997
ISBN: 978-0-940322-06-6

The Royal Society: https://royalsociety.org/topics-policy/projects/machine-learning/

Title: Machine Learning

Author: Tom Mitchell
Publisher: McGraw-Hill
Publication Date: 1997
ISBN: 0071154671

Title: Life 3.0

Author: Max Tegmark
Publisher: Penguin Books
Publication Date: 2017
ISBN: 978-0-141-98180-2

Title: The Conscious Mind

Author: David Chalmers
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Publication Date: 1996
ISBN: 978-0-19-511789-9

Title: Sustainable Energy – without hot air

Author: Sir David JC Mackay
Publisher: UIT Cambridge Ltd
Publication Date: 2009
ISBN: 978-1-906860-01

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Title: Novacene: The Coming of Age of Hyperintelligence
Author: James Lovelock
Publisher: Allen Lane - Penguin
Publication Date: 2019
ISBN: 978-0-241-39936-1

Title: HOW BAD ARE BANANAS? – THE CARBON FOOTPRINT OF EVERYTHING

Author: Mike Berners-Lee
Publisher: Profile Books Ltd
Publication Date: 2010
ISBN: 978-1-84668-891-1

Title: Machine Learning – A Probabilistic Perspective

Author: Kevin P. Murphy
Publisher: MIT
Publication Date: 2012
ISBN: 10:0262018020

Title: Automated Planning Theory and Practice

Author: Malik Ghallab, Dana Nau and Paolo Traverso
Publisher: Elsevier
Publication Date: 2004
ISBN: 1-55860-856-7

Title: The Cambridge Handbook of Artificial Intelligence

Author: Keith Frankish and William Ramsey
Publisher:
Publication Date: 2014
ISBN: 978-0-521-69191-8

Title: Artificial Intelligence: 101 Things You Must Know Today About Our Future
Author: Lasse Rouhiainen
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
Publication date: 2018
ISBN: 1982048808.

Title: The Mythical Man Month

Author: Frederick P. Brooks, JR., Addison Wesley
Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional
Publication Date: 1995
ISBN: 0-201-83595-9

Advanced theoretical Text

http://www.cs.huji.ac.il/~shais/UnderstandingMachineLearning

Title: Machine Learning for Absolute Beginners: A Plain English Introduction (2nd edition)
Author: Oliver Theobald
Publisher: Scatterplot Press
Publication Date: 2017
ISBN: 1549617214

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Abbreviations

Not all abbreviations need to be used in the course, they are for reference.

Abbreviation Meaning
AI Artificial Intelligence
IoT Internet of Things
ANN Artificial Neural Network
NN Neural Network
CNN Convolution Neural Network
ML Machine Learning
OCR Optical Character Recognition
NLP Natural Language Processing
DL Deep Learning
DNN Deep Neural Networks
AGI Artificial General Intelligent
CPU Central Processing Unit
GPU Graphical Processing Unit
RPA Robotic Process Automation
CART Classification and Regression Trees
IT Information Technology
IQ Intelligence Quotient
EQ Emotional Quotient

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Glossary of Terms

Not all terms need to be used in the course, they are for reference.

Term Description or Definition

Activation Function The activation function defines the output of a node given an
input or set of inputs.
Intelligent Agent An intelligent agent (IA) is autonomous, observes through
sensors and acts on its environment using actuators.

Algorithm An algorithm is an unambiguous specification of how to solve

a class of problems.

Artificial Intelligence A branch of computer science dealing with the simulation of

(AI) intelligent behaviour in computers.

Automation Automatically controlled operation of an apparatus, process,

or system by mechanical or electronic devices that take the
place of human labour.
Autonomous Undertaken or carried on without outside control
Axon An axon is a long, slender projection of a nerve cell, or
neuron, that typically conducts electrical impulses.

Axon Terminals Axon terminals are terminations of the telodendria (branches)

of an axon.

Back-propagation A method used in artificial neural networks to calculate

a gradient required in the calculation of the weights to be
used in the network.
Bayesian Network A Bayesian network or belief network is a
probabilistic graphical model that represents a set of
variables and their conditional dependencies.
Bias Deviation of the expected value of a statistical estimate from
the quantity it estimates.
Big Data Big data is data sets that are so big and complex that
traditional data-processing application software are
inadequate to deal with them.
Boosting Boosting is an ensemble meta-algorithm for reducing bias,
and also variance in supervised learning and a family
algorithms that convert weak learners to strong ones.
Bootstrap Aggregating – Bootstrap aggregating, is an ensemble meta-algorithm used
Bagging in statistical classification and regression.
Chatbot A chatbot is an artificial intelligence program that conducts a
conversation via auditory or textual methods.
Classification Classification is the problem of identifying to which of a set
of classes a new observation belongs.
Clustering Clustering groups a set of objects in such a way that objects
in the same group are more similar to each other than to
those in other groups.
Cognitive Simulation Cognitive simulation uses computers that test how the human
mind works.

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 Term Description or Definition
Combinatorial Complexity The exponential growth in computer power required to solve
a problem that has many combinations with increasing
complexity.
Combinatorial Explosion A combinatorial explosion is the rapid growth of the
complexity of a problem due to the combinations of the
problem’s input parameters.
Connectionist Cognitive science that hopes to explain intellectual abilities
using artificial neural networks.
Data Analytics The discovery, interpretation, and communication of
meaningful patterns in data.
Data Cleaning Data cleaning detects and corrects
(or removes) corrupt or inaccurate records from a record
set, table, or database and refers to identifying incomplete,
incorrect, inaccurate or irrelevant parts of the data and then
replacing, modifying, or deleting the dirty or coarse data.
Data Mining The process of discovering patterns in large data sets.
Data Science Data science uses scientific methods, processes, algorithms,
and systems to understand data.
Data Scrubbing See data cleaning.
Decisions Trees A decision tree is a decision support tool that uses a tree-like
graph or model of decisions and their possible
consequences.
Deep Learning Deep learning is a class of algorithms that use a cascade of
multiple layers for feature extraction and transformation. Each
successive layer uses the output from the previous layer as
input.
Dendrites Dendrites are branched extensions of a nerve cell that
propagate the electrochemical stimulation.
Edges Edges are the machine learning name for the brain’s axons
Ensemble Ensemble methods use multiple learning algorithms to obtain
better predictive performance than could be obtained from
any of the constituent learning algorithms alone.
Expert Systems An expert system is a computer system that emulates the
decision-making ability of a human expert.
Feedforward Neural A feedforward neural network is an artificial neural
Network network wherein connections between the nodes do not form
a cycle.
Functionality The tasks that a computer software program is able to do.
Genetic Algorithms A genetic algorithm (GA) is an algorithm inspired by the
process of natural selection.
Hardware Hardware are the physical parts or components of a
computer.
Heuristic Heuristic is a strategy derived from previous experiences with
similar problems.
High Performance HPC or Supercomputing is a computer with a high level of
Computing – Super performance compared to a general-purpose computer
Computing
Hyper-parameters A hyperparameter is a parameter whose value is set before
the learning process begins.
Inductive Reasoning Inductive reasoning makes broad generalisations from
specific observations.

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 Term Description or Definition
Internet of Things (IoT) The Internet of Things (IoT) is the network of physical
devices, vehicles, home appliances, and other items
embedded with electronics, software, sensors, actuators, and
connectivity which enables these things to connect and
exchange data.
k-Means k-means is a clustering algorithm that partitions observations
into k clusters in which each observation belongs to
the cluster with the nearest mean, serving as a prototype of
the cluster.
k-Nearest Neighbours The simplest clustering algorithm used to classify new data
points based on the relationship to nearby data points.
Layers Neural networks are organised into layers and a layer a set of
inter-connected nodes.
Linear Algebra Linear algebra is the branch of
mathematics concerning linear equations and functions and
their representations through matrices and vector spaces.
Logistic Regression Logistic Regression is used in binary classification to predict
two discrete classes.
Machine Learning Machine learning is a subset of artificial intelligence in the
(ML) field of computer science that gives computers the ability to
learn from data.
Model Optimisation The improvement of the output of a machine learning
algorithm (e.g. adjusting hyper parameters)
Natural Language Natural language processing (NLP) is an area of artificial
Processing intelligence concerned with the interactions between
(NLP) computers and human (natural) languages, in particular how .
Natural Language Natural language understanding is term used to describe
Understanding machine reading comprehension
(NLU)
Nearest Neighbour The nearest neighbour algorithm was one of the
Algorithm first algorithms used to determine a solution to the travelling
salesman problem.
Neural Network A Machine Learning Algorithm that is based on a
(NN) mathematical model of the biological brain
Nodes Nodes represent neurons (biological brain) and are
interconnected to form a neural network.
One-hot Encoding Transforms text-based features into a numerical form, e.g.
false is given the number zero and true is given the number
1.
Ontology Ontology is the philosophical study of the nature of being,
becoming, existence, or reality, as well as the
basic categories of being and their relations.
Optical Character Optical character recognition is the conversion of images of
Recognition typed, handwritten, or printed text into machine-encoded text.
(OCR)
Over-fitting or Over- Overfitting is a machine learning model that is too complex,
training has high variance and low bias. It is the opposite of Under-
fitting or Under-training.
Probabilistic Inference Probabilistic Inference uses simple statistical data to build
nets for simulation and models.
Probability Probability is the measure of the likelihood that an event will
occur.
Pruning Pruning reduces the size of decision trees.
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 Term Description or Definition
Python A programming language popular in machine learning
Random Decision Forests Random decision forests are an ensemble learning method
for classification, regression and other tasks.
Random Forests Random forests are an ensemble learning method or
classification, regression and other tasks, that operate by
constructing a multitude of decision trees at training time.
Regression Analysis In machine learning, regression analysis is a simple
supervised learning technique used to find a trendline to
describe the data.
Reinforcement Machine Reinforcement learning (RL) uses software agents that
Learning take actions in an environment so as to maximize some
notion of cumulative reward.
Robotics Robotics deals with the design, construction, operation, and
use of robots, as well as computer systems for their
control, sensory feedback, and information processing.
Robotic Process Robotic process automation is a business process
Automation automation
(RPA) technology based on the notion of software robots or artificial
intelligence workers.
Scripting Scripting are programs written for a special run-time
environment that automate the execution of tasks that could
alternatively be executed one-by-one by a human operator.
Search The use of machine learning in search problems, e.g.
shortest path
Semi-supervised Machine Machine learning that uses labelled and unlabelled data for
Learning training.
Sigmoid Equation A sigmoid function is a mathematical function having a
characteristic "S"-shaped curve or sigmoid curve.
Software Software is a generic term that refers to a collection of data
and computer instructions that tell the computer how to work.
Software Robots A software robot replaces a function that a human would
otherwise do.
Strong AI or Artificial Strong AI's goal is the development of artificial intelligence to
General Intelligence the point where the machine's intellectual capability is
functionally equal to a human.
Supervised Machine Supervised machine learning is the task of learning a function
Learning that maps an input to an output based on example input-
output pairs.
Support Vector Machine A support vector machine constructs a hyperplane or set of
hyperplanes in a high- or infinite-dimensional space, which
can be used for classification, regression, or other tasks like
outliers detection.
Swarm-intelligence Swarm intelligence is the collective
behaviour of decentralized, self-organised systems, natural or
artificial
Symbolic Symbolic artificial intelligence is the term for the collection of
all methods in artificial intelligence research that are based
on high-level "symbolic" (human-readable) representations of
problems, logic and search.
System A regularly interacting or interdependent group of items
forming a unified whole.

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 Term Description or Definition
The Fourth Industrial The Fourth Industrial Revolution builds on the Digital
Revolution Revolution, representing new ways in which technology
becomes embedded within societies and even the human
body.
Turing Machine A Turing machine is a mathematical model of computation.
Un-supervised Machine Unsupervised machine learning infers a function that
Learning describes the structure of unlabelled" data.
Under-fitting Underfitting is when the machine learning model has low
variance and high bias. It is the opposite of Over-fitting or
Over-training.
Universal Design Universal design (close relation to inclusive design) refers to
broad-spectrum ideas meant to produce buildings, products
and environments that are inherently accessible to older
people, people without disabilities, and people with
disabilities.
Validation Data A set of data used to test the output of a machine learning
model that is not used to train the model.
Variance Variance is the expectation of the squared deviation of
a random variable from its mean.
Visualisation Visualisation is any technique for creating images, diagrams,
or animations to communicate a message.
Weak AI or Narrow AI Weak artificial intelligence (weak AI), also known as narrow
AI, is artificial intelligence that is focused on one narrow task.
It is the contrast of Strong AI.

Weights A weight function is a mathematical device used when

performing a sum, integral, or average to give some elements
more "weight" or influence on the result than other elements
in the same set.

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