Udacity AI Nanodegree: Honest Review

Artificial intelligence (AI) is all around us - self-driving cars, smart assistants, social media monitoring tools, TV show recommendations, and so much more.

Artificial intelligence can be explained as a simulation of human intelligence in machines. They’re programmed to act like humans as well as to think like us. However, they will never display natural intelligence, consciousness and emotionality, as we do.

Since artificial intelligence is such a fast-growing field, there’s also a high need for experts. If you want to find out more about AI and expand your knowledge, Udacity AI Nanodegree is one of the most recommended options. It’s an extensive program that will provide you with knowledge and job-applicable skills in the field. 

In this Udacity Artificial Intelligence Nanodegree review, we’ll take a look at this program closely, analyze the included courses, instructors, pricing, and even more. All of that is just to answer the question - is Udacity AI Nanodegree worth it? 

At the very end of this article, I will also provide you with other recommended courses and Nanodegrees on AI offered by Udacity. So you should definitely check them out for in-depth knowledge and skills. 

Let’s begin this Udacity AI review by understanding more about artificial intelligence and why this field is worth studying. 

Udacity AI: Understanding Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a field that focuses on building machines that would be capable of changing human work or simply assisting us when it comes to tasks that usually require human intelligence. 

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Artificial intelligence works by gathering and combining huge amounts of data that allows the software to automatically learn from it by analyzing different features and patterns found in that data. 

However, even though machines are taught to act like humans, you cannot teach them the emotionality and consciousness that a person has. This is not the only difference between machine and human intelligence, so let’s take a look at a few examples. 

Humans act differently depending on their previous experiences, circumstances, visuals, surroundings and other information. Machines, on the other hand, use predefined data, and various algorithms to react to specific situations and provide different solutions instantly. 

Another example is that human feelings tend to get involved when it comes to decision making. However, machines are analyzing complex data to come with the best results. Moreover, unlike humans, machines are not capable of recognizing missing data, distorted images and other information that they cannot learn from computers. 

Those are only a few differences when it comes to human and machine intelligence, however, you should get the main idea. 

Now, since AI is an extensive field, it has multiple subfields that you’ve probably heard about before: 

• Deep learning. This AI function imitates the human brain when it comes to creating patterns and analyzing data for decision making. 
• Machine learning. Machine learning provides computers with the ability to learn without being programmed. It’s used in image and speech recognition, self-driving cars and multiple other applications that we’re using nowadays. Moreover, there are three different types of machine learning: supervised, unsupervised and reinforcement learning. 
• Neural networks. This study connects machines and cognitive science to perform various tasks, its main goal is to replicate the human brain. Neural networks can be used to analyze risks, sales and stock-exchange predictions as well as detecting frauds. 
• Natural language processing. Natural language processing refers to the computers’ ability to understand human language and speech, both verbal and written. 
• Cognitive computing. The main goal of cognitive computing is to replicate problem-solving skills that are typical to humans.
• Computer vision.  Computer vision allows computers to recognize, analyze and understand visual data. It’s a crucial part of artificial intelligence. 

As you can see, artificial intelligence is a very wide field that includes multiple other subfields. Nowadays, AI is used in many fields to make processes easier. In fact, it makes some processes that humans are incapable of performing possible. 

AI is used in healthcare to assist doctors and make diagnoses based on the patient’s data. It’s also used in education, one of the examples is an automated grading system. Moreover, it’s being implemented in autonomous vehicles, businesses, the travel industry, and social media. 

Thus, artificial intelligence is everywhere around us. While it’s not easy to understand that, it takes time to master AI and become an expert in the field. However, one of the best ways to do that is by starting with Udacity Artificial Intelligence Nanodegree. 

Udacity AI Nanodegree (Enroll HERE)

• Estimated Time: 3 months (12-15 hours per week)
• Price: $1356 ($339 per month)
• Certificate: YES
• Level: Intermediate-Advanced
• Apply HERE

Udacity AI Nanodegree is suitable for everyone who wants to expand their expertise in this field. The program covers the basic AI concepts, including planning, pattern recognition, optimization, search, and even more. 

In this Nanodegree, you will be using the foundations of AI algorithms to write programs. Moreover, you will learn from the AI experts: Peter Norvig and Sebastian Thrun. They will help you to master Bayes Network, Random Hill Climbing, Beam Search, Hidden Markov Models, and even more. 

This program is quite an intensive one. When learning about 12-15 hours per week, you should be able to complete it within 3 months. However, keep in mind that it’s flexible, so you’ll be able to learn at your own pace. Also, it costs $1017, but there are alternative payment methods as well as the ability to get financial support. I will discuss all of these aspects and more further in this review.  

Now that this part is clear, let’s move further to reveal the knowledge that you need before enrolling in this program. 

Can You Enroll in Udacity AI Nanodegree? 

Before enrolling in Udacity AI Nanodegree, it’s crucial to make sure that you have all the needed knowledge and skills to be able to keep up with all the courses included in this program. 

I can tell you right away that Udacity AI Nanodegree is not suitable for beginners. Here’s the experience that you need: 

• Basic understanding of linear algebra and calculus. 
• Know how to apply basic probability and statistics. 
• Python programming experience. 
• Implementation of object-oriented programming and computer science algorithms. 

There’s no need to be upset if you don’t have the prerequisite knowledge to enroll in this program, it doesn’t mean that all your chances of becoming an expert in artificial intelligence are lost. 

If you want to get the required skills and prepare yourself for Udacity AI Nanodegree, these two programs will be very helpful: 

• AI Programming with Python Nanodegree program
• Data Structures & Algorithms Nanodegree program

AI Programming with Python Nanodegree program is recommended for those who want to learn the essentials of AI as well as learn Python programming language. You will start coding, drawing upon libraries as well as solve complex problems using automation scripts. It will teach you valuable knowledge that will help you to start your career in AI.

Now, the Data Structures & Algorithms Nanodegree program is recommended for those who are new to computer science algorithms. This program is all about hands-on experience. It includes more than 100 data structures, various algorithm exercises, and technical mentor support that will help you to prepare for job interviews. 

If you lack the knowledge to enroll in Udacity AI Nanodegree, then you should definitely consider these two courses. However, if you already have the needed experience, continue reading this Udacity Artificial Intelligence Nanodegree review to find out more about it. 

Courses Included in Udacity AI

It’s quite clear what this program is all about, however, to dive more into details, I would like to take a look at the separate courses that this program consists of. It includes 5 courses and multiple classes, so there’s definitely a lot to discuss.

Let’s take a look at the courses included in this program. 

Course 1: Intro to Artificial Intelligence

The first course consists of 3 lessons. You will be introduced to the program and instructors, find out about all the available resources that will help you when learning. Moreover, you will learn the basics of artificial intelligence, the core concepts and setting up your environment with Anaconda. 

Course 2: Constraint Satisfaction Problems

The second course includes not only 3 lessons but also a project. In this course you will learn how you can solve sudoku with AI, find out more about logical constraints, constraint propagation and know how to incorporate a backtracking search that will help you to find a solution when constraints are incomplete. 

The main course of this course is to build a Sudoku solver by using constraint propagation and building an agent that thinks like a human. That’s a very interesting one. 

Course 3: Search, Optimization, and Planning

The third course is the most extensive one. It includes 15 classes and a course project. The main aim of this course is to teach you how to build robots that would be able to achieve goals by taking advantage of search and symbolic logic. One of such examples is NASA Mars rovers. 

To complete this project, you will need to demonstrate your knowledge, such as classical optimization and search algorithms, symbolic logic, and other skills that you will learn in this course. 

Course 4: Adversarial Search 

The fourth course focuses on teaching you how to search in multi-agent domains, different techniques that will help you to overcome the limitations of basic minimax search, how to extend the adversarial search, and provides you with the list of resources that will help you to understand the topic.

It also includes project work that will require you to demonstrate what you’ve already learned and build an adversarial game-playing agent. 

Course 5: Fundamentals of Probabilistic Graphical Models

The fifth course will teach you how to perform pattern recognition by modeling real-world uncertainty through probability. You will learn about discrete distributions, joint probabilities, conditional probabilities, Bayes networks, hidden Markov models, dynamic time warping, and so much more. 

The project of this course will require you to perform part of speech tagging.  

As you can see, Udacity AI Nanodegree is a very extensive program that will require your time and effort to complete. While everything might sound a bit complicated at first, it’s definitely worth it! 

Your Instructors

Your learning experience mainly depends on instructors, they should not only have expertise in the field but also have great personalities and implement interesting learning methods. 

Udacity AI Nanodegree has three instructors. Let me shortly introduce each of them to you: 

• Peter Norvig (Research Director) - Research Director at Google who is also a co-author of the leading textbook in the field called Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach. 
• Sebastian Thrun (Instructor) - if you’re a fan of Udacity, you should definitely know who this person is. Sebastian Thrun is a founder and president of Udacity and a founder of Google X. His main goal is to make sure that online education is available to everyone. 
• Thad Starner (Professor of Computer Science) - the director of the Contextual Computing Group (CCG) at Georgia Tech and also one of the leads on Google’s Glass project. 

You will be learning with the very best experts in their field. That’s one of the reasons why Udacity Nanodegree is so recommended. Also, customer Udacity AI reviews showed that they had an amazing experience when learning this program, not only because they gained valuable knowledge but also because they were very pleased with the learning techniques and the fact that they had so much hands-on experience. 

The Benefits of Udacity AI Nanodegree

Many would disagree with the fact that online learning can change traditional education, however, Udacity Nanodegree provides an amazing learning experience that will make you feel as if studying at university or other institutions of higher education. After all, the majority of universities transferred classes online due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Let me introduce you to all the benefits of studying Udacity Nanodegree: 

• Hands-on experience. 

Theory means nothing if you don’t have real experience and job-applicable skills. Udacity completely understands that, so every course includes project work that will help you to gain industry-relevant skills and knowledge to easier find a job after completing this program. 

• Workspaces.

Workspaces allow you to see how your code looks like, so you can easily check its quality to make sure that everything’s how it should be. Workspaces are a part of the Udacity classroom, so they’re available for everyone who enrolls in this program. 

• Access Knowledge.

Knowledge is like Wikipedia. It allows you to find the answers to your questions in no time. You can also check out what other students were asking about and easily expand your knowledge. Moreover, you can also get help from mentors and solve all the issues that you encounter when studying Udacity AI Nanodegree. 

• Student Hub.

Student Hub is an amazing place that connects all the students. It features a chat interface where you can communicate with your fellow learners, ask them questions as well as give advice. It allows you to feel a part of the community. 

• Custom studying plan.

One of the best ways to make sure that you do not forget when it’s time for studies is pre-scheduling your study times. It works as a reminder that it’s time for classes and also keeps you motivated. 

• Instantly-graded quizzes. 

Udacity AI Nanodegree includes a variety of quizzes that will allow you to test your knowledge. The quizzes will be graded instantly when completed. What’s great is that if you find one or more subjects a bit confusing, you can easily find a class where you were learning that specific subject and repeat it once again for a full understanding. 

• Tracking your progress.

Udacity Nanodegree includes milestone reminders that will allow you to see your journey - how many classes you’ve already completed and how many of them are still left to complete the program. It definitely motivates you to learn. 

• Flexible learning. 

One of the best things about this program and many other online learning courses is that you’re your own boss and can learn whenever you want. In other words, you can create your own schedule and stick to it.

• Career services.

I bet that you’re choosing Udacity AI Nanodegree because you’re looking for better career opportunities. If so, then you’ll be happy to know that Udacity also offers career services such as the review of your LinkedIn profile, resume, GitHub and cover letter. Moreover, you will get some valuable advice from experts in their field that will help you to find your dream job. 

As you can see, there are so many benefits associated with learning artificial intelligence on Udacity, so it might be one of the best learning experiences that you’ve ever had. 

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Udacity Artificial Intelligence Nanodegree Pricing

By now, it’s clear that the Udacity AI program can teach you valuable knowledge and job-applicable skills, however, it’s also important to take a look at the prices and make sure that it’s worth it. 

Currently, Udacity Artificial Intelligence Nanodegree costs $1017. It lasts 3 months, meaning that the price is $339 per month. However, it doesn’t mean that you have to pay all the price at once. You can pay as you go and that will cost you $399 per month. This option is amazing as you get ultimate flexibility and can learn at your own face. 

What’s crucially important to mention is that you can also get financial support. All you need to do is apply and see what kind of discount you can get. The final payment option is offered by Affirm financial services. It allows you to make monthly payments over 3,6 or 12 months without any hidden fees. You will be paying as low as $85 per month. 

All things considered, even though Udacity AI Nanodegree is not the most affordable option, this program is completely worth the price if you’re serious about becoming an expert in this field. 

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Other Udacity AI Courses & Nanodegrees

When looking for Udacity AI, you will also come across other top-rated courses and programs. Just Like Udacity AI Nanodegree, these options are recommended for everyone who wants to expand their knowledge in artificial intelligence. 

Without further ado, let me provide you with those courses.  

Intro to Artificial Intelligence (Enroll Here)

• Estimated Time: 4 months
• Price: FREE
• Certificate: YES
• Level: Intermediate
• Apply HERE

Since many people have been looking for Udacity Intro to Artificial Intelligence, I would like to begin with this course. The course covers the basics of modern AI as well as where AI is applied nowadays. Moreover, you will learn how artificial intelligence is changing current society and how it expands human capabilities. 

Even though this course is quite extensive as it should take you about 4 months, you can learn completely free! Keep in mind that it’s suitable for intermediate-level students, so you will need to have at least a basic understanding of probability theory and algebra. 

Moving further, the Udacity intro to artificial intelligence course consists of 2 lessons, including fundamentals of AI and Applications of AI. In these lessons, you will learn about machine learning, logic and planning, statistics, uncertainty, Bayes network, robot motion planning, and so much more. 

Since this Udacity intro to artificial intelligence course is free, you should definitely give it a try.

Start the course NOW.

Deep Learning Nanodegree (Enroll Here)

• Estimated Time: 4 months (12 hours per week)
• Price: $1356 ($339 per month)
• Certificate: YES
• Level: Intermediate
• Apply HERE

Another alternative to Udacity AI is the Deep Learning Nanodegree. It’s all about teaching you how to build your own neural networks that could be applied to image classification, generation, model deployment, and other challenges.

The program takes about 4 months to complete if you’re learning about 12 hours per week. Moreover, it’s suitable for intermediate-level students who have experience with Python. In case you lack this knowledge, you can take AI Programming with Python Nanodegree and gain all the necessary knowledge. We’ll talk more about this program a bit later in this Udacity Artificial Intelligence Nanodegree review. 

After completing this program, you will know how to build convolutional networks for image recognition, generative adversarial networks for image generation, and so much more. So if you’re interested in machine learning, artificial intelligence and deep learning, you should enjoy learning this program. 

Start the program NOW.

Become a Machine Learning Engineer Nanodegree (Enroll Here)

• Estimated Time: 3 months (10 hours per week)
• Price: $1017 ($339 per month)
• Certificate: YES
• Level: Intermediate
• Apply HERE

The name of this program says it all. It’s all about advanced machine learning techniques and algorithms. Moreover, you will gain hands-on experience by learning how to package and deploy your models to a production environment. You will also get a chance to deploy trained models to a web application by using Amazon SageMaker. 

This program is not suitable for beginners, you should have at least some knowledge of machine learning algorithms before enrolling. If you lack experience, it’s recommended to begin with the Intro to Machine Learning Nanodegree Program. 

Getting back to the machine learning program, you should be able to complete it within 3 months, however, keep in mind that it’s completely flexible, so you’ll be able to set your own schedule and learn at your own pace. Once it’s completed, you will get a professional certificate that can be easily added to your CV and portfolio to show off your skills. 

Start the program NOW.

Pros

• Easy to use with a learn-by-doing approach
• Offers quality content
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Main Features

• Free certificates of completion
• Focused on data science skills
• Flexible learning timetable

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Main Features

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• Paid certificates of completion

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AI Programming with Python Nanodegree (Enroll Here)

• Estimated Time: 3 months (10 hours per week)
• Price: $1017 ($339 per month)
• Certificate: YES
• Level: Intermediate
• Apply HERE

The final option that’s also considered a quite good alternative to Udacity AI is AI Programming with Python Nanodegree. This program will teach you Python foundations for building your own neural network. You will learn pandas, NumPy, Matplotlib, Calculus, Linear Algebra and PyTorch. 

Since Python is one of the most widely used languages in Artificial Intelligence, it’s the most important programming language that you should master if you want to become an expert in artificial intelligence. This is exactly what this program is all about, so you should definitely take that into account. 

Just like a significant part of Udacity Nanodegree programs, this one should take about 3 months to complete. Also, it costs $339 per month, however, you can often get discounts and pay less. In general, this program is an amazing fit for everyone who doesn’t know where to begin. 

Start the program NOW.

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Conclusions

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a very fast-growing field that completely changes the way we live today. It’s used in self-driving cars, voice assistants, healthcare, business, education, eCommerce, and multiple other fields where it can assist or replace humans. 

What’s important to understand is that artificial intelligence is a very broad field, so it includes a variety of subfields, including machine learning, deep learning, neural networks, natural language processing, and others. That’s why when searching for artificial intelligence Udacity, you might also come across courses that provide you with these studies. 

Now, since you came here for Udacity AI, you’re probably wondering, is it worth it? 

Yes! Udacity AI Nanodegree is highly recommended for everyone who wants to improve their knowledge in this field. It will teach you basic AI concepts, including planning, pattern recognition, optimization, search, and even more. Furthermore, you will master Bayes Network, Random Hill Climbing, Beam Search, Hidden Markov Models, and gain other valuable information. 

Udacity AI Nanodegree is not only about theoretical knowledge, you will also gain hands-on experience and job-applicable skills through multiple projects that will help you to gain a broader understanding. That being said, even though this program is on the more expensive side, it’s completely worth it. 

Apart from Udacity AI Nanodegree, there are multiple other courses and programs on AI that are available on this online learning platform. That said, you can also check out these recommended options: 

• Intro to Artificial Intelligence
• Deep Learning Nanodegree
• Become a Machine Learning Engineer Nanodegree
• AI Programming with Python Nanodegree

Just like Udacity AI Nanodegree, these courses and programs are highly recommended for future AI experts. They can be taken as an alternative to Udacity AI or as additional courses for more advanced skills and in-depth knowledge! 

Hopefully, this Udacity Artificial Intelligence Nanodegree review managed to answer all of your questions about this program and you’ve decided to take your future into your own hands and become an AI expert! 

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