Students from the University of East Anglia (UEA) will be among the first in the country to be taught skills in artificial intelligence based on TensorFlow.js, as part of a new collaboration between the University and Google.
UEA is one of the first UK universities to work with Google’s TensorFlow.js team, meaning students starting courses in the next academic year will be one of the country’s first to learn essential skills for the future using web-based Machine Learning (ML).
Machine learning is a type of artificial intelligence (AI) focused on enabling machines to learn and improve from experience without needing to be specifically coded to do so, essentially imitating the ways in which humans tackle complex tasks and solve problems.
Examples of machine learning being used in practice can be found in abundance across social media platforms, investment banks, and telecoms, to name just a few. You can see how people are already using TensorFlow.js in industry or for personal projects via the Made With TensorFlow.js playlist over on YouTube to get a taste of what’s possible.
TensorFlow.js is Google’s open-source hardware-accelerated JavaScript library, a browser-boosting repository for ease of use in training and deploying machine learning models in the browser and beyond. In practice, this translates into a wide variety of potential applications within diverse sectors across the East of England, such as manufacturing, aerospace, agribusiness, medical imaging, supply chain logistics, creative innovations, healthcare, and energy.
Prof Gerard Parr, Head of UEA’s School of Computing Sciences said:
“We look forward to launching this new content in our upcoming courses throughout September 2023 onward to kickstart a new wave of Computer Scientists and Web Engineers graduating from UEA with cutting edge skills that can enable them to stand out from the crowd and offer their future customers next generation web apps powered by AI and Machine Learning. In all of this, we will provide further technical skills to graduates from our courses at UEA that will be directly relevant to important sectors in the East of England and beyond.”
Jason Mayes, Web ML lead at Google and on the TensorFlow.js team.said:
“TensorFlow.js helps to make AI and Web ML more accessible to individuals, startups and academics, giving even more people the opportunity to use this technology to create helpful solutions to all sorts of real-world problems from the everyday to the epic. This course will teach the UK's next generation of coders, web engineers and creatives the technical skills needed to get the most from this technology, equipping them with the tools needed to bring innovative apps, business ideas and prototypes to life. I'm delighted that we're working with the University of East Anglia to help teach the digital skills that will become even more pivotal in future."
Academics from UEA’s School of Computer Sciences will integrate this brand-new machine learning syllabus and accompanying materials into a number of UEA’s undergraduate and postgraduate Computing Science course modules, including those dedicated to data mining, machine learning and artificial intelligence.
It’s hoped the collaboration will greatly enhance student’s learning experience and, as AI and ML become ever more prevalent across an increasing number of industries, ensure UEA students are equipped with the advanced skills and knowledge required to become tomorrow’s experts and changemakers.
Traditionally, ML has been almost solely the realm of those who use Python, a high-level programming language, and has been largely inaccessible to web engineers who use JavaScript, even though JavaScript developers represent around 70% of all developers in the world today.
Prof Parr believes this development opens up a world of possibilities for UEA students, setting them apart from many of their contemporaries by combining the fresh opportunities TensorFlow.js delivers alongside the subject expertise and strong industry links already integrated within the School of Computing Science.
He said: “Leveraging the School of Computing Sciences experts in Web Engineering, Artificial Intelligence, and Machine Learning, students will have the opportunity to deepen their knowledge through research and convert their research ideas into a production system using TensorFlow.js with local business partnerships and collaboration.”
Jason also said: “Having exposure to such tools will broaden the technical experience of UEA students and give them further transferable skills that will be attractive to an industry that is increasingly utilising machine learning across all business verticals. Usage of TensorFlow.js has grown from around 10,000 weekly downloads to over 170,000 weekly downloads in just over two years, so now is the time to upskill the next generation of engineers.”
To learn more about TensorFlow.js check out this introductory video.
