Professor
Tao Gao
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Most Helpful Review
Fall 2020 - Very considerate and accommodating instructor and great class material. Grade was determined by two exams (50%) and six homework assignments (50%). Usually homework can be completed within 20 minutes. The midterms and finals consists of a few short-answer questions. Due to the nature of course content, the midterm was harder, but both was doable. Professor Gao also gave everyone more than enough time to complete the exams. He would start the exams early if he feels people may need extra time so it is recommended that you keep your schedule open 30 minutes to 1 hour before the class. He was super considerate and did not hesitate to give everyone As as long as they deserve it. Definitely a great class. I 100% recommend taking it with Professor Gao.
Fall 2020 - Very considerate and accommodating instructor and great class material. Grade was determined by two exams (50%) and six homework assignments (50%). Usually homework can be completed within 20 minutes. The midterms and finals consists of a few short-answer questions. Due to the nature of course content, the midterm was harder, but both was doable. Professor Gao also gave everyone more than enough time to complete the exams. He would start the exams early if he feels people may need extra time so it is recommended that you keep your schedule open 30 minutes to 1 hour before the class. He was super considerate and did not hesitate to give everyone As as long as they deserve it. Definitely a great class. I 100% recommend taking it with Professor Gao.
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Most Helpful Review
Winter 2024 - This class was difficult, I think everyone would agree on that considering at least one person left our final exam in tears. This professor is amusing and likable, but unfortunately difficult to understand with his thick accent. He's very passionate about AI but expects you to share that same enthusiasm and therefore moves very quickly through the material before you even have a chance to grasp it. The TA wasn't too helpful as she seemed confused by the material too, so myself and a lot of my peers had to rely on ChatGPT to teach us this course. Everyone seemed lost besides a few people, even if they went to office hours. I will say that the HW assignments are easy and can be used to bump your grade, but just know that this class will be a challenge. Math is used, nothing too crazy, but it was confusing when mixed with the already confusing course material. On the Midterm and Final it's all short answer, and you will need to know examples from class, he had tiny details mentioned in lecture slides or you would have to fill in blank sections of images from the PowerPoints. I ended with a 79.9 percent, despite getting As on all the HW, and still was not curved unfortunately. It's a challenge for sure, but if you ask ChatGPT to break down the material in simple terms, it will really make a difference in actually learning the material.
Winter 2024 - This class was difficult, I think everyone would agree on that considering at least one person left our final exam in tears. This professor is amusing and likable, but unfortunately difficult to understand with his thick accent. He's very passionate about AI but expects you to share that same enthusiasm and therefore moves very quickly through the material before you even have a chance to grasp it. The TA wasn't too helpful as she seemed confused by the material too, so myself and a lot of my peers had to rely on ChatGPT to teach us this course. Everyone seemed lost besides a few people, even if they went to office hours. I will say that the HW assignments are easy and can be used to bump your grade, but just know that this class will be a challenge. Math is used, nothing too crazy, but it was confusing when mixed with the already confusing course material. On the Midterm and Final it's all short answer, and you will need to know examples from class, he had tiny details mentioned in lecture slides or you would have to fill in blank sections of images from the PowerPoints. I ended with a 79.9 percent, despite getting As on all the HW, and still was not curved unfortunately. It's a challenge for sure, but if you ask ChatGPT to break down the material in simple terms, it will really make a difference in actually learning the material.
Most Helpful Review
Spring 2018 - Very interesting information, not so engaging lectures. The workload was reasonably light when I took it and there is a good balance of tests and papers. The papers saved my grade so much because the TA was quite generous. There is quite a bit of reading but not overwhelming. If you take the time to ask questions in class, this class should be an easy A. Not the most exciting lectures but I didn't mind because of the light workload.
Spring 2018 - Very interesting information, not so engaging lectures. The workload was reasonably light when I took it and there is a good balance of tests and papers. The papers saved my grade so much because the TA was quite generous. There is quite a bit of reading but not overwhelming. If you take the time to ask questions in class, this class should be an easy A. Not the most exciting lectures but I didn't mind because of the light workload.
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Most Helpful Review
Spring 2023 - I know the previous review makes it seem like Professor Gao was terrible, but honestly I enjoyed his class a lot and found it super relevant to what we're experiencing today. His lectures were made in line with current events such as ChatGPT and other things like Deep Fakes and he kept up with applying the concepts to current events that were going on during the quarter. He does have an accent that I get could be hard to understand at times, but if you pay attention and are engaged it's not too bad and I got used to it. I thought his lectures were pretty organized, he uses slides but if you were to skip class it would be hard for you to catch up since he doesn't record, but as long as your present and make sure to take notes on the points he brings up rather than just looking at the slides you'll do fine. His midterm and final were exactly like what he lectured on, so going back to that point I just made, as long as you take notes on the examples he gives and can reference back to that on the tests you'll do great. His class is super manageable—he only gave us 6 assignments to do which were basically just free points (a bunch of them asked you to utilize ChatGPT and figure out ways to use the program/jailbreak it which was cool). Though his tests were short answers, as long as you're concise with your answers and write the main topics asked, you'll get full points. Just make sure to keep up with the readings since there can be a couple questions on that! Overall I would take him again, I never had to stress about the hw assignments so that gave me more time to study!
Spring 2023 - I know the previous review makes it seem like Professor Gao was terrible, but honestly I enjoyed his class a lot and found it super relevant to what we're experiencing today. His lectures were made in line with current events such as ChatGPT and other things like Deep Fakes and he kept up with applying the concepts to current events that were going on during the quarter. He does have an accent that I get could be hard to understand at times, but if you pay attention and are engaged it's not too bad and I got used to it. I thought his lectures were pretty organized, he uses slides but if you were to skip class it would be hard for you to catch up since he doesn't record, but as long as your present and make sure to take notes on the points he brings up rather than just looking at the slides you'll do fine. His midterm and final were exactly like what he lectured on, so going back to that point I just made, as long as you take notes on the examples he gives and can reference back to that on the tests you'll do great. His class is super manageable—he only gave us 6 assignments to do which were basically just free points (a bunch of them asked you to utilize ChatGPT and figure out ways to use the program/jailbreak it which was cool). Though his tests were short answers, as long as you're concise with your answers and write the main topics asked, you'll get full points. Just make sure to keep up with the readings since there can be a couple questions on that! Overall I would take him again, I never had to stress about the hw assignments so that gave me more time to study!
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