Week by Week:

• Week 1 (9/14/26): Course Logistics & The Data Pipeline

  • Class Topics: Course logistics and introductions; The data pipeline behind large AI systems (web scraping, labeling, click work, automated data collection); Defining "handmade datasets" and "small" in the context of AI.
  • Slides: Week 1 Class Slides (Link coming soon)
  • Homework: Recipe #1, Complete Intake form, InstallGit and VSCode if you don’t already have them installed on your computer

• Week 2 (9/21/26): Introduction to GANs

  • Class Topics: Introduction to Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs); Exploring what a GAN can learn from a small dataset.
  • Slides: Week 2 Class Slides (Link coming soon)
  • Homework: Handmade Dataset Experiment #1, Part I

• Week 3 (9/28/26): Data Augmentation & GAN Training

  • Class Topics: Data augmentation with images; GAN training session.
  • Slides: Week 3 Class Slides (Link coming soon)
  • Homework: Handmade Dataset Experiment #1, Part II

• Week 4 (10/5/26): Intro to Generative Text & GAN Presentations

  • Class Topics: Student presentations of Handmade Dataset Experiment #1; Introduction to generative text models.
  • Slides: Week 4 Class Slides (Link coming soon)
  • Homework: Reading Recipe #2, Handmade Dataset Experiment #2, Part I (Gathering Text Data)

• Week 5 (10/12/26): GAN Presentations (Continued) & Text Processing

  • Class Topics: Text-generation mechanics and training; Second-round GAN presentations.
  • Slides: Week 5 Class Slides (Link coming soon)
  • Homework: Handmade Dataset Experiment #2, Part II (Model Training)

• Week 6 (10/14/26 - *Weird Wednesday class): Guest Speaker & Text Presentations

  • Class Topics: Guest speaker (TBD); Student presentations of Generative Text models.
  • Slides: Week 6 Class Slides (Link coming soon)
  • Homework: Handmade Dataset Experiment #3, Part I, Reading Recipe #3

• Week 7 (10/19/26): Generative Audio Models

  • Class Topics: Introduction to generative audio models (like RAVE); Hands-on training setup for sound models.
  • Slides: Week 7 Class Slides (Link coming soon)
  • Homework: Handmade Dataset Experiment #3, Part II (Model Training).

• Week 8 (10/26/26): Audio Presentations & Final Project Kickoff

  • Class Topics: Student presentations of generative audio models; Official introduction and scoping session for the Final Project.
  • Slides: Week 8 Class Slides (Link coming soon)
  • Homework: Work on Final Concept Presentation (Approx 15 min to present, 5 min for feedback)

• Week 9 (11/2/26): Milestone 1 Presentations

  • Class Topics: Milestone 1 presentations: Sharing final project concept and initial samples.
  • Slides: Week 9 Class Slides (Link coming soon)
  • Homework: Work on Datasheet

• Week 10 (11/9/26): Data Augmentation Clinic

  • Class Topics: In-class augmentation clinic and dataset troubleshooting.
  • Slides: Week 10 Class Slides (Link coming soon)
  • Homework: Continue active collection and cleaning of your dataset.

• Week 11 (11/16/26): Milestone 2 Presentations

  • Class Topics: Milestone 2 presentations: Sharing ~finished datasets (must be at least 70% complete).
  • Slides: Week 11 Class Slides (Link coming soon)
  • Homework: Set up your first model training runs.

• Week 12 (11/23/26): Training Clinic & Web Demo Integration

  • Class Topics: Model training check-ins; Integrating custom trained models into web applications and user interfaces.
  • Slides: Week 12 Class Slides (Link coming soon)
  • Homework: Continue model training and iterate/retrain as needed.

• Week 13 (11/30/26): Milestone 3 Training Check-in

  • Class Topics: Milestone 3 presentations: Training progress check-in, troubleshooting.
  • Slides: Week 13 Class Slides (Link coming soon)
  • Homework: Work on final presentation and model polish.

• Week 14 (12/7/26): Final Project Presentations

  • Class Topics: Final in-class project presentations and peer review.
  • Slides: Week 14 Class Slides (Link coming soon)
  • Homework: Prepare final deliverables for showcase; complete Reading Recipe #4.

• Week 15 (12/14/26): Milestone 4 Final Showcase

  • Class Topics: Milestone 4: Final public showcase of the trained models and handmade datasets.
  • Slides: Week 15 Class Slides (Link coming soon)
  • Homework: Enjoy the winter break! :-)