Q&A on Machine Learning and AI - CppMSG 5th Monday

Know ML or Math? Want to give back? We need more mentors/teachers. :)

Before attending, please read this entire website >> http://CppMSG.com << especially the meeting protocols and rules page since we are unique/unusual. ;)

Also, please prepare your computer, and the multiple web accounts you will need before attending.

Schedule:

First 30 minutes: Interpersonal networking, setting up our laptop computers (you should bring one), finishing any food you brought with you. No food is served, but tap water is available.

>> THEN: >> Formal start of meeting - focused, settled, and ready to share in depth.

A) Brief Administrative Review: We spend a few minutes sharing comments and critique of how the prior class went and how to improve it.

B) Extensive Questions and Answers: Q&A and round-table discussion focused on the event topic (as noted in the title above). It is helpful but not required to have read the recommended reading before attending. Everyone is welcome, don't hesitate to attend! Even if you have not read the suggested material, or attended prior meetings, you are welcome and we will accommodate beginner questions. Priority is given to questions on the "recommended" materials (ie. books) found on the website.

C) Brief Announcements and Inspirational Personal Success Stories: Calls for jobs, events, news, and points of interest from the all programmers present (and by corporations/businesses/group sponsors by prior arrangement only).

/* Note: Due to lack of mentors, we are not currently doing part D / / D) - Lab, Personal Projects, and Individual Mentoring - Individual or small groups practice coding on their computers. Projects can consist of anything; student's projects, IDE, development environment and library setup. Also, mentors offer individualized help for students with any questions including topics outside of those covered that day. */

This meeting will be a valuable resource, productive, and interesting to those that are serious about rigorously studying machine learning.

In addition to already being experienced programmers, all members attending an AI/ML (not JavaScript OR C++) are already very comfortable with mathematics such as high school or college level geometry, trigonometry, algebra, and calculus I and II.

All members know, or are willing to learn linear algebra, probability and statistics at the college level. We are also willing to upgrade your math skills (as may be needed) using college level textbooks.

Do you want to share your knowledge and refine it by helping others? We'll do what we can to make your contribution to our group fulfilling for you. Our mentors are the lifeblood of the CppMSG approach to learning. Our expert volunteer mentors benefit from teaching, as well as hearing and learning alternative approaches from their fellow mentor's views, and the questions asked by the learners (students) during a session.

Please eat before attending since no food will be served.

Young People: All programmers are welcome, however if you are under 18 years of age, you will need to be accompanied at ALL times by your parent or legal guardian. There are no exceptions to this rule.

Please change your RSVP to NO if you can't attend, and do so before the meeting, even if only by a few minutes. "No shows" will be noted on the meetup.com system.

Group Culture and Meeting Facilitation:

We discuss deeply technical specifics. Introductory and advanced questions and answers are interleaved with the goal of everyone getting some benefit moment to moment. All questions are treated with respect. All answers/replies/comments and asides are considered, challenged, and supplemented by everyone in the group. We are highly interactive and we sit around a huge table to facilitate quality communication. No one is required to speak, but we hope you will have something to add when you are comfortable doing so. The moderator of the group is very proactive in keeping the discussion understandable, focused, on topic and moving forward, as well as creating space for people to speak and express their technical ideas. We aim for highly productive, highly interactive learning. Generally, Grant is the moderator and Luke is the primary mentor.

One thing that makes us truly different is that attendees can publicly challenge and or criticize Grant (but not Luke) during the course of the meeting, but not in the parking lot or later by email (we want it in public to create a culture of transparency in group improvement). If you think something is not being explained well, you can't read someone's handwriting, someone is going too fast, or the meeting is getting off track, you can say something. Grant and Alan will not be crushed, nor will we retaliate with anger, nor with passive aggressive behaviors, nor retribution. We work to facilitate excellent, efficient, flexible and responsive events and part of this means inviting audience feedback even when it is not 'ego positive' for us. However this does not mean that you can aggressively question other attendees, organizers or mentors, since they have not generally agreed to be public criticized.

All sessions are, or may be, recorded in video and audio. Recordings are not available at this time. These recordings may, or may not, be posted on the internet in the future. Generally, a simple web cam is pointed at the white board and only the presenters are visible. However attendee questions and comments can be heard. Your attendance constitutes your acceptance of being recorded.

If you can host this meeting at a quiet location that has good wifi, tables for laptop use, and maybe even free parking, please let Grant Rostig know.

Keywords: CppMSG, AI, ML, artificial intelligence, machine learning, javascript, ecmascript, java script, mentoring and study group, meetup.com, Austin Texas