Our first course, Elements of AI, set out to train at least 1% of the general Finnish population on the basics of artificial intelligence.
Our goal was to break down institutional barriers to knowledge: The six-week, free introductory online course was built and designed for the 99%, not the privileged few.
Students of all genders, races, and ages, all across the nation, signed up in droves. Even the President of Finland took part in the course. Elements of AI quickly became a movement: We reached our milestone in enrollment in only a few months.
What became clear was the urgent societal need for later-in-life education. There was a gap in the market – not just for courses in AI, but for primers in everything to do with future work skills.
