I am now onto my sixth course in AI. This one is a more specialised course that is looking at creating AI based chatbots without the use of coding.
I think it is so important that someone out there is simplifying AI, etc for those who don't want to learn coding or don’t have the time to learn or go deep into it.
Before we begin, I would like to say thanks to the wonderful and generous folks at EDx for giving me this scholarship to pursue this course.
Chatbots are increasingly in demand among global businesses. This course will teach you how to build, analyze, deploy and monetize chatbots — with the help of IBM Watson and the power of AI.
The course is well structured and the time required is two weeks. However, we have time until the end of the 30 days to complete the course and submit the final project and clear the exam.
It covers some basic and slightly advanced topics which can help one in understanding how to deploy a chatbot on your own site. There are eight modules with each module explaining a certain topic. The instructions by
trainer Antonio Cangiano are clear and one can follow thru without too much hassle. However, I did initially face some difficulty because IBM had made minor changes on their site but they are not too important and can easily be overcome.
Some topics covered are:
- What chatbots are and why they are revolutionary
- The key principles of good chatbot design
- How to create your own chatbot without the need to write any code
- How to deploy your chatbot on WordPress sites
- How to make money with chatbots
I’ve really liked the fact that a lot of effort has gone into making it easy for the learner to get access to get access to WordPress and IBM Watson. Also as you clear each module, there is a progress bar which tells you how you are doing. There is a quiz after each module and they collectively add to the total marks at the end. (see image below)
As you progress, in Lab 3 (Import Intents), I was struggling to import the intents. It was not working for me even though I tried multiple times. I download and made it into a CSV but no avail. Finally I posted it on the discussion group and decided to move on as it was not too imp to get stuck here. There is a lot more to cover. However, I did finally manage to import the intents after getting clarification from the group discussions.
I then proceeded to cover the rest of the modules and give the exam and clear with a score of 80%. (there are exams at every module which add to the final marks to get the certificate)
Tip: the final exam is timed. This means that unlike other quizzes where you can take your time to refer back to the material. Here you can’t. So study well, dear reader.
I then also moved onto deploying the chatbot on a WordPress site. This was a good feeling to see an actual live implementation of your work. Below is a pic of how it looks after a few modifications.
And lastly — is the certification. So if you are looking to make a chatbot, you know who to reach out to.
Link: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sanjitoberai/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/sanjit_oberai
