Based upon reading the course description, if you can grok Daphne + Nir's book, then you won't learn anything from the class.
"This class does require some abstract thinking and mathematical skills. However, it is designed to require fairly little background, and a motivated student can pick up the background material as the concepts are introduced. We hope that, using our new learning platform, it should be possible for everyone to understand all of the core material."
and "For additional depth, you can refer to the best-selling textbook, _Probabilistic Graphical Models: Principles and Techniques_ by Daphne and Nir Friedman."
I can grok the book, but I can't read it like it's a vampire novel and remember anything useful... hence the reason to sign up and have something of a schedule to follow.
I signed up for the course. I have a good general background in AI but my knowledge of probabilistic graph models is thin - hoping to quickly fill in the gaps.
I thought about buying the book but thought that listening to the lectures and doing the assignments would be more fun.
"This class does require some abstract thinking and mathematical skills. However, it is designed to require fairly little background, and a motivated student can pick up the background material as the concepts are introduced. We hope that, using our new learning platform, it should be possible for everyone to understand all of the core material."
and "For additional depth, you can refer to the best-selling textbook, _Probabilistic Graphical Models: Principles and Techniques_ by Daphne and Nir Friedman."