What this chapter covers
The course thesis and the value equation used throughout: ICT Value = f(Alignment, Returns, Costs). A short history read as a pendulum between centralisation and distribution, from the mainframe to client-server, to the cloud, to AI models consumed as a utility. What a computer is: bits, logic, the stored program. Hardware today: CPU, GPU and NPU, memory and storage, and why computing power and energy have become strategic issues. Software: operating systems, applications, the shift from installed software to SaaS. Programming languages: from machine code to Python, and now to natural language as a way of programming. Networks, the internet and the cloud.
What changes with AI
From bits to tokens; from writing code to describing intent.
Seen in class
- A small web tool built live with an AI coding assistant: specification, first result, verification.
Materials and practice
SlidesAvailable after class
HandoutAvailable after class
Self-CheckQuiz and exam practiceExerciseA worked case with solution