Beirut AI Community Recap: March 2020
What a time to be alive. We hope that you and your loved ones are safe. These are very tough times and to support the first responders in this crisis we have to make sure that we do our part to the best of our abilities. A heartfelt thank you goes out to all those on the front lines.
During this month, all of our in-person events were postponed until further notice. Following the advice of health professionals and legal restrictions, we did not deliver our content in the usual way this month. Luckily we live in times where digital interaction is not only possible but convenient (for many of us)! That is why for the foreseeable future Beirut AI’s content will be provided online! If you want to be the first to know of all our latest news and events sign up for our newsletter.
Beirut AI’s First Online Workshop
No matter the times, we always want to make sure we give our community what they expect from us! For the first time, we provided our Introduction to Artificial Intelligence Workshop fully online!
We want to thank each and every one of the 50+ participants who joined us on this call! Thank you. We hope that you learned a lot from this session!
We will continue to provide online content through these times and hope that our community can socialize remotely and learn from each other while social distancing.
Sharpen your Skills While at Home
There is always a silver lining to any situation. With the quarantine, many people have gained a lot more time. If you’re one of those people and you would like to improve your AI skills, we’ve listed a few resources that we think can help you get up and running.
Kaggle Competitions
Kaggle, one of the most popular Data Science and AI competition platforms, is currently holding multiple competitions related to the COVID-19 outbreak. They have also provided multiple open datasets that you can analyse or use to make predictions. Although these are hard times, it’s a great opportunity to apply your knowledge on real life data in ways that can create an impact.
MIT OpenCourseWare
MIT has been providing some of their course content online. On MIT OpenCourseWare you can find plenty of content on classes that they have provided, including lecture notes, assignments and other course material. You can check out and study some of the courses that they have provided online. Although some of the courses have been provided years ago, many of the basic concepts hold up till today and so remain relevant.
Google AI and MENA Digital Days
If you’re a learner who likes things to be pre-structured and chunked then Google AI courses might be very good for you. You can pick any of their available courses and walk through each step one by one until you’ve completed all the concepts of that course. You can find courses from general concepts to very specific. If there’s any concept in AI that you’re interested in, you will likely find it here.
On a more local level, the MENA Google community is providing content on a weekly basis. You will find topics ranging from machine learning, to data science, to project management. Make sure to check out the Google MENA Digital Days to learn more about these topics.
EdX
EdX has many AI courses provided by some very key players, from IBM to Harvard and more. Many of their courses are self-paced and accessible by everyone. Although there are fees if you want to get a certification a lot of their videos are available to anyone who wants to learn.
DataCamp
The A to Z of Data Science, Machine Learning and AI can be found here. The courses range from extremely simple and straightforward to the more intricate and complex. And right now they are having a 75% sale on their yearly membership for unlimited access to all of their courses.
Tell Us What You’re Up to
So you’re already creating cool and amazing Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence projects? Would you like to get a shoutout in our next newsletter?
Fill out this form to let us know about a project that you would like to share with the Beirut AI community!
COVID-19 Lebanese Situation Report
Samer Salameh, built this interactive dashboard that shows the state of the Coronavirus in Lebanon and allows you to filter and play with the data. Make sure you check it out to stay updated!
MasKorona
With the coronavirus outbreak more and more people want to know how to stay protected, and many want to ensure that others are in fact protected. One of the simplest ways to stay safe is to wear a mask!
Obeida El Jundi decided to implement a solution that can detect whether someone is or is not wearing a mask in real time. The model can detect a face and immediately identify whether the person is wearing a mask.
Face masks are one of the easiest ways that one can help in flattening the coronavirus infections curve. Ensuring that more and more people wear masks helps everyone both protect each other and help hospitals from reaching their capacity. That’s why adding such a solution to public spaces’ surveillance can ensure that those in charge can act quickly by providing face masks to those who aren’t wearing them and therefore help spread awareness and reduce the number of possible infections.
Don’t forget to fill out this form if you have amazing AI projects that you would like to share with us!
Or… Take it Easy
This is a tough and unprecedented time. Different people deal with hardships in different ways. While some people might thrive under so much pressure, others might struggle and suffer extreme anxiety. And guess what? It’s ok. Know that all the feelings that you have are valid. Your anxiety is valid and you’re allowed to feel worried and scared.
Make sure that you allow yourself to experience the full spectrum of these emotions because you’re human and you’re allowed to. Know that you are not alone and that there is no reason for you to suppress these feelings. In times like these all we might need, is to sit down, reflect on the times and take care of ourselves and our loved ones. And, that is valid. So despite the fact that we live in a fast paced world, if you need to, slow down and put yourself first. Especially in times like these.
As always thank you.
Please, stay safe and be responsible.
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