CMU's Introduction to Modern AI Now Available Free Online

CMU Opens a Modern AI Course to the World

Carnegie Mellon University's 10-202: Introduction to Modern AI, taught by Professor Zico Kolter, is now available for free online. The course scored 222 points on Hacker News, reflecting strong interest from developers and researchers eager to deepen their AI fundamentals.

Course Details

Instructor: Zico Kolter (CMU CS Professor, researcher in deep learning and optimization theory)

In-person schedule: Mon/Wed/Fri 9:30-10:50 at Tepper 1403

Online access: All lecture videos, assignments, and mugrade autograded submissions available with a 2-week delay

Start date: Online content began January 26, 2026

Why This Matters

Free access to a rigorous CMU AI curriculum — including assignments with actual autograding — is rare. Most free online AI courses offer video lectures but lack structured problem sets and automated feedback. This offering fills that gap for self-taught ML practitioners, engineers building AI-powered products who want to solidify theoretical foundations, and researchers entering the field.

Kolter's course focuses on the theoretical foundations that underpin modern AI systems, making it especially valuable for engineers who want to go beyond using frameworks and understand the principles underneath them.