Microsoft, Algarve university launch artificial intelligence course
The course, which will run from September 25 to October 30, aims to create the basis for executives and managers to define strategies, implement practices of AI-related investments.
Microsoft and the University of Algarve (UAlg) have announced a collaboration protocol for the creation of an Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Executives course that kicks off at the end of September.
The training, which will run from September 25 to October 30, aims to create the basis for executives and managers to define strategies, implement practices and evaluate results of AI-related investments. Registration will run between September 1 and 17.
“The intention is to give tools to these decision-makers to better use this technology, which already exists, in the best possible way, with smarter and more profitable recommendations,” Microsoft’s chief technology officer told Lusa.
On the sidelines of the signing of the protocol, Manuel Dias said that the choice of the University of Algarve is due to the existence in the region of a tourist and restaurant sector where AI technology can be applied to “help in the economic recovery, helping decision-makers to launch services to capture customers and create margin, increasing their knowledge of the customer.
From a practical point of view, he exemplified with what he called the “integrated and intelligent journey of a tourist” where from the moment he makes a reservation until he arrives in the city he can have the entire tourist offer “personalised” through “recommendation algorithms, advanced mobility patterns or the characteristics of that tourist”.
Another component is about virtual assistants to support customers or tourists “both inside the hotel and for recommendations”.
A third component integrates “cognitive services,” which consist of algorithms “already developed for voice, image or brand recognition” that can be “embedded in the companies’ applications”. These can measure, for example, “how many times the company logo appears in a video” or allow for “automatic translation for multilingual services”, he said,
The rector of UAlg told Lusa that this “is not a course for computer scientists”, but for “decision-makers” who will have the first contact with solutions that already exist in the market and that can serve them to “solve certain problems,” giving them tools “to strengthen the competitiveness of their companies by increasing their created value”.
Paulo Águas highlighted that the course will use content produced by Microsoft’s AI Business School and by INSEAD – European Institute of Business Administration.
