Course Modules

This course has three modules, arranged around three classes of complements to AI technology.

  1. Complementary Skills (AI Technology) – focusing on using Large Language Models (LLMs) and Generative AI at scale.
  2. Complementary Organizational Processes (AI Applications) – with a focus on how AI is practically used in modern businesses
  3. Complementary Ecosystem (AI Supply Chains) – with a focus on the companies developing AI, especially Open Source software

See ‣ for details on work for outside the lecture. The ‣ is to present a prototype of an AI application with an accompanying business case.

In addition to blogpost assignments, Modules 2 & 3 require case study preparation. You will need to read the case and prepare to discuss it in class. While the planned cases are listed in the schedule, do not purchase cases yet! Details on how to purchase the course pack will be released by February 4, 2025.

Schedule

Week Class Date Topic Assignment Due*
1 1 January 7, 2025 Course Introduction
• Motivation – The Economics of AI
• Course Structure
• Course Assignments and Policies *All assignments are due at the start of class on the assigned date.
2 January 9, 2025 AI History & The Prediction Paradigm
• Historical Perspectives on AI Technology
• The Prediction Paradigm Take the start of course survey (ungraded)

Read Power and Prediction, Preface and Chapter 3 (18 pages, free on Google Books) and be prepared to discuss | | | | | Module 1: Complementary Skills (8x Classes) | | | 2 | 3 | January 14, 2025 | Generative AI • Introduction to Generative AI and LLMs • The GenAI “Paradigm” • Building Generative AI Systems | B1 - AI in Your World | | | 4 | January 16, 2025 | Large Language Models • Inside the LLM Blackbox • Choosing Between Models • Integrating LLMs in Daily Life | *comments on blog posts due | | 3 | 5 | January 21, 2025 | Prompt Engineering • Prompt Engineering • Prompts as Programming • Dynamic Prompting | B2 - Three Sleepless Nights | | | 6 | January 23, 2025 | Developing with LLMs + Lecture Code • Dynamic Prompting • Working with LLMs via API • The OpenAI API | *comments on blog posts due | | 4 | 7 | January 28, 2025 | Retrieval Augmented Generation + Lecture Code • Intro to RAG in Business • Retrieval and Generation • Implementing a Simple RAG system | T1 - Working with LLMs (Pt 3 Solution) | | | 8 | January 30, 2025 | Augmented LLMs and Agents + Lecture Code • Planning and Tool Use • The ReAct Framework • Autonomous Agents | | | 5 | 9 | February 4, 2025 | Building User Interfaces for AI + Lecture Code • Current GenAI Product Design • Building an Extendable Chatbot Interface • Emerging UI Patterns with LLMs | T2 - Building AI Systems | | | 10 | February 6, 2025 | Multimodality + Lecture Code • Introduction to Multimodal AI • Building Multimodality • Taking Stock | | | | | | Module 2: Complementary Organizational Processes (12x Case Studies) | | | 6 | 11 | February 11, 2025 | Products – Dentistry (VideaHealth, Slides) | T3 - Building AI Interfaces

(T3 due on February 12, 2025 11:59PM, due to late assignment release) | | | 12 | February 13, 2025 | Products – Healthcare (IBM Watson, Slides) | | | 7 | 13 | February 18, 2025 | Products – Manufacturing (Intenseye, Slides) | F1 - Final Project Proposal | | | 14 | February 20, 2025 | Products – AVs (DeepMap, slides) | | | 8 | 15 | February 25, 2025 | Operations – Pharmaceuticals (Moderna, slides) | B3 - Products | | | 16 | February 27, 2025 | Operations – Finance (Ant Financial, slides) | *comments on blog posts due | | 9 | 17 | March 4, 2025 | Operations – Media (Disney / @PyTorch, slides) | F2 - Final Project Business Case | | | 18 | March 6, 2025 | Operations – Recruiting (Baidu, Slides) | | | 10 | 19 | March 11, 2025 | Corporate Functions – Strategy (BCG, Slides) | B4 - Operations | | | 20 | March 13, 2025 | Corporate Functions – Customer Service (Loris, Slides) | | | | | March 18, 2025 | Spring Break | | | | | March 20, 2025 | Spring Break | | | 11 | 21 | March 25, 2025 | Corporate Functions – Marketing and Sales (Pernod Ricard, Slides) | F3 - Organizational Implementation Plan | | | 22 | March 27, 2025 | Corporate Functions – AI Ethics & Alignment (Timnet Gebru @ Google, Slides)

Mollick’s Cointelligence Ch2 — “Aligning the Alien” | | | | | | Module 3: Complementary Ecosystem (6x Case Studies) | | | 12 | 23 | April 1, 2025 | Industry Overview (AI Wars, Slides) | B5 – Corporate Functions | | | 24 | April 3, 2025 | Compute [Chip Manufacturers] (NVIDIA, Slides) | *comments on blog posts due | | 13 | 25 | April 8, 2025 | Algorithms [Open Source Software] (Hugging Face, Slides) | [Work on final project] | | | 26 | April 10, 2025 | Algorithms [Proprietary Software] (OpenAI) | | | 14 | 27 | April 15, 2025 | Cloud (Amazon (AWS Sagemaker), Slides) | Blog Post VI – AI Ecosystem | | | 28 | April 17, 2025 | Copilots (Microsoft / GitHub, slides)

‣ | *comments on blog posts due Final Project Video Presentations Due | | | | | Final Project | | | 15 | 29 | April 22, 2025 | Final Project Demos (Slides) | (The instructor will notify ahead of time if you are presenting.) |