Teaching Uncertainty Quantification in Machine Learning through Use Cases

Matias Valdenegro-Toro

Keywords: uncertainty quantification, bayesian neural networks, teaching

TL;DR: We should be teaching uncertainty in ML to all students, to improve safety in AI

Abstract: Uncertainty in machine learning is not generally taught as general knowledge in Machine Learning course curricula. In this paper we propose a short curriculum for a course about uncertainty in machine learning, and complement the course with a selection of use cases, aimed to trigger discussion and let students play with the concepts of uncertainty in a programming setting. Our use cases cover the concept of output uncertainty, Bayesian neural networks and weight distributions, sources of uncertainty, and out of distribution detection. We expect that this curriculum and set of use cases motivates the community to adopt these important concepts into courses for safety in AI.