Courses in Artificial Intelligence for startups

Summer sun is shining bright over Greece. And even though we may have dropped our pace for a few days, just to cope with the elements, our passion is our vision and it’s all about our startups. Being in SaaS, we know automation is of paramount importance to turn our business model from a theoretical one to a practically viable one. As it happens, automation in our informational systems is a key ingredient to help us be at ease; especially when it comes time for growth towards mainstream markets. And what better way to go about it, than using Artificial Intelligence?

Artificial Intelligence for Multi-Agent Worlds

This, past June, the Technical University of Crete (TUC) organized the Advanced Course on AI (ACAI), sponsored by EurAI. And this year the main theme was AI for Multi-Agent Worlds. The event constituted the 2019 Hellenic Artificial Intelligence Summer School, as well, sponsored by EETN, the Hellenic AI Society.

What a great opportunity; to learn all we can about advances in AI, while in summer mood, just before our summer break. That’s why we set out to better ourselves at a summer school, rich with a special track on Cognitive Systems. A venue organised by the Open University of Cyprus and the University of Cyprus, and sponsored by the Artificial Intelligence Journal (AIJ). We also had the chance to attend the Twenty Years of the Price of Anarchy (20PoA) workshop. A celebratory meeting aiming to chart out the impact of the price of anarchy in game-theoretic thinking.

You may wonder what it is we gained from that. Well, there were eight of us there:

• Dimitris Tsingos, Founder, Starttech Ventures
• Aristeidis Kypriotis, Growth Marketer, Starttech Ventures
• George Tesseris, Co-founder of Dreamclass
• Michalis Giannos, Senior Systems Engineer, Stackmasters
• George Zisopoulos, Software Engineer, Veturilo
• George Detorakis, Software Engineer, Veturilo
• Litha Diavolitsi, International Sales Executive, Epignosis
• Panagiotis Sarantopoulos, Front-End Developer, Starttech Ventures

So, why not hear it directly from some of our participants?

Why Artificial Intelligence?

– Dimitris Tsingos, Founder, Starttech Ventures

At Starttech Ventures we’re determined to develop both the theoretical and the practical capacity of our teams’ members. A prerequisite to successfully navigating the AI era. In this context, we were thrilled to sponsor ACAI2019 at Chania. Words don’t suffice to express how useful we have found it. We’d like to extend our warmest congrats to the organizers, in particular to Prof. Chalkiadakis, Dr. Spanoudakis and the awesome volunteers.

We remain committed to the journey of Artificial Intelligence. And we shall soon launch an internal, MSc-level, 18-months long education & training program on the mathematical foundations of AI. That is, in close partnership with distinguished academics and researchers. ACAI2019 at Chania has further excited our appetite for the sector; and we are optimistic that our entrepreneurial endeavors will soon be enriched with an AI flavor!

Artificial Intelligence is looking for a “good-enough” solution

– Michalis Giannos, Senior Systems Engineer, Stackmasters

The ΑΙ summer school brought together students, researchers and practitioners, active in the broad area of algorithmic game theory. That is, as they came to present their search results and share ideas. So, there we were, at the “Electrical and Computer Engineering Department” of the Technical University of Crete. A really well organized summit, with a significant number of volunteers aiding the process.

Artificial Intelligence topics covered multi-agent worlds, AI Ethics, Machine Learning & Deep Learning, Logic, Robotics, Game Theory and AI for Digital Games. Keynotes and sessions I find worth mentioning are:

Twenty Years of the Price of Anarchy

A workshop by Prof. Christos Papadimitriou, regarding automated decisions, as informed by machine learning and the pursuit of efficiency in social life.

When the input of machine learning algorithms is provided by profit-making producers of data it may lead to game-playing, inefficiency and unfairness.

Price of Anarchy and its Relatives

by Guido Schäfer

The Price of Anarchy is a concept in game theory that measures how the efficiency of a system degrades due to the selfish behavior of its agents. It quantifies the degradation of social welfare in games due to lack of a centralized authority; one that could enforce the optimal outcome.

The session covered results on the price of anarchy and its relatives with strategic games where the parties exhibit “complex” preferences. In congestion games, the price of anarchy gets worse as parties become more altruistic. Then again, it improves as parties care less about the congestion caused by others.

AI Ethics to Ethical AI

by Michael Rovatsos

In this conversation we covered ethical issues in AI, like:

• unemployment – what happens after the end of jobs?
• inequality – how do we distribute the wealth created by machines?
• humanity – how do machines affect our behaviour and interaction?
• artificial stupidity – how can we guard against mistakes?
• racist robots – how do we eliminate AI bias?
• security – how do we keep AI safe from adversaries?
• evil genies – how do we protect against unintended consequences?
• singularity – how do we stay in control of a complex intelligent system?
• robot rights – how do we define the humane treatment of robots?

The Kouretes team and RoboCup

A hands-on demo from Kouretes team, who participate in the RoboCup, an annual international robotics competition.

What is Artificial Intelligence looking for?

I’m not an AI expert. Thus, I found some sessions really difficult to follow. There was no absolute in knowing the required level a participant should have, beforehand.

Nevertheless, a general feeling was that AI is trying to find a “good-enough” solution to problems, rather than the optimal solution. However, in the near future, we may be using AI and Machine Learning techniques, even in DevOps operations – e.g. log analysis, monitoring and alerting. So, we should keep our eyes open.

At the end of the day, it was a very interesting experience. It provided us with a good understanding on the basic concepts of AI. As well as an opportunity, of course, to explore the beautiful city of Chania.

Machine learning in problem solving

– Litha Diavolitsi, Sales Executive, Epignosis

The ACAI summit in Chania was a tremendous success. People from all backgrounds were able to attend and light was shed in the ubiquitous subject of Machine Learning. From a personal perspective, as a business executive, AI has been one of those subjects where I was in the dark. However, that wasn’t a deal breaker. It was clear, through the presentations and discussions with the researchers, that AI is now a game changer in optimization. Solving people’s problems in the optimum way possible, has never been easy.

We are going through an era of new techniques that can be leveraged to change people’s life for the better, as well as minimize costs. What has made an impression on me, throughout the Artificial Intelligence conversations, is that despite the improvements and technical advancements, morality around Machine Learning is a strong variable of equal importance. It is certainly giving me hope to think that AI and Machine Ethics (can) grow at the same speed, to be a force of good.

AI gets software services to the next level

– George Tesseris, CTO & Software Engineer, Dreamclass

We’re constantly looking for new methods and approaches to improve our products and services. The Advanced Course on Artificial Intelligence (ACAI) allowed us a deep-dive into the world of AI. It enabled us to better understand how emerging fields of AI can drastically improve our products and services, in ways not possible before. Really a horizon-broadening experience.

AI, a wake-up call against naivety

– George Detorakis, Software Engineer, Veturilo

The ACAI 2019 was, for me, a really memorable experience. The event organizers and volunteers were really very hospitable and always at hand, ready to help with anything.

The lectures were really helpful. Even though a newbie, like me, could understand and acquire only a small fraction of knowledge about the field of Artificial Intelligence. Towards the end of the venue, however, there was a wake-up call, helping me realize my own naivety. The field appears to be evolutionary, but when used in the wrong context or unethically, the consequences may be irreversible. (We should, first of all, try to discover the fire extinguisher before starting the fire itself.)

It was an unforgettable experience, intriguing me to try and dive deeper into the field of AI.

Finally, a big “thank you” to Dimitris Tsingos and Starttech Ventures’ team, for making our attendance possible! It was not only a great learning experience, but a great bonding opportunity as well, especially important for individuals like myself, who need to work remotely!

AI in the real world

– Aristeidis Kypriotis, Head of Growth, Starttech Ventures

All in all, ACAI 2019 was a very interesting and stimulating event. What was most impressive about the event is that the organizers managed to strike at an ideal balance of breadth of subjects and topics covered, and depth for the topics covered.

Artificial Intelligence pro-business

– Panagiotis Sarantopoulos, Front-End Developer, Starttech Ventures

You can always learn new things when you expect it the least. The ACAI summer school was an excellent opportunity to do just that! And I dare say the beauty of it was the diversity of backgrounds among participants. Oddly enough, quite a few of us, while technical minded, were not mathematically minded enough to grasp the algorithmic reality of what was being described in each session or workshop. However, one was able to draw conclusions towards the business end of practicality; just by listening to all these great minds sharing their findings.

Natural Intelligence vs Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence is a part of computer science that started out as an analysis of human – or natural – intelligence. That is, aiming to make computers smarter. And I think we can safely assume it implies the analysis of human behavior, or response to different stimuli, taking emotional triggers or basic instincts into account, to discover how decisions are made using natural intelligence.

Automated negotiation

Learning about the principles of Automated Negotiation can be a real eye-opener. Each time we have a conversation, our interlocutor is potentially conflicted, as much as we are. A conflict may include a dispute over a scarce resource or limited opportunity, downright self-interest, or a struggle towards a mutually acceptable solution. Every time we try to convince someone about anything, we need to give them something, to get something. And that’s, of course, negotiation. Desirability towards an agreement is of cardinal importance to a successful negotiation. That’s, hands down, an incredibly interesting sales process.

The Nash Equilibrium

It gets more complex as you take the Nash Equilibrium into account. A notion that applies to environments where parties can openly and directly negotiate before competing in a non cooperative game. According to the Nash equilibrium, there is a possibility that a group of self-interested parties may, voluntarily and without any binding agreement, elect to coordinate their strategies and make joint objections. It also takes the perfect foresight of rational parties fully into account. And how’s that for a method to use during M&As?

Interestingly enough, while all this is pure math in constructing an artificially intelligent algorithm to conduct negotiations, it describes how we might unconsciously conduct such negotiations ourselves, in real life situations. So, it dawned on me that all this math for Artificial Intelligence may be a great guideline to discover how to optimize your business skills. And I don’t see why not; within the auspices of a rational situation among rational parties, that is.

The Pareto Optimal

The Pareto Optimal is also important, inasmuch as it describes a situation in which the benefit of a party cannot be increased without, at the same time, reducing the benefit of some other party. A really intriguing – and difficult – place to be during a negotiation. Imagine this were a startup’s funding round, where some of the previous investors would have their interests diluted if the startup wouldn’t let go of some additional percentage of their company.

Business optimization

The business aspect benefits of all these methods in problem-solving are incredibly helpful in determining where your processes are at fault. A handy addition to your arsenal of business optimization tools. And when in doubt, you can always use the equations! Besides, remember; If you’re working the Lean way, bad business is always due to faulty processes — not faulty people.

An expert view

Business optimization aside, what of this new era? And why not hear it from the experts?

Have we become smarter?

All in all, I think we’ve all come out of this summer school as better people; ever so slightly smarter, even. That’s the point of knowledge, after all.

When we set out to this great new adventure, we doubted any positive outcome. We were wrong, of course. Learning new things is always useful, no matter what. Besides, in between sessions and at the end of each day at the TUC, we managed to squeeze in a joke or two, an exchange of opinions and thoughts and a few great team-bonding activities. Even if it meant a mere dinner in each other’s company. Artificial Intelligence or not, it was a truly invigorating experience; as any other experience would be, here at Starttech. And, of course, what better way to start your summer?