Module 37: Technology
How computers work, how the internet runs, and what AI actually is
Part A · what technology is — a brief history of tools and the digital revolution
Technology as the extension of human capability — from stone tools to software
DefinitionAgricultural revolutionIndustrial revolutionDigital revolution
The history of computing — from Babbage to the smartphone
Babbage & LovelaceTuring & ENIACTransistor & microprocessorPersonal computerInternet ageTimeline
Moore's Law — what it says, why it held, and what comes next
The original observationTransistor count chartPhysical limitsWhat replaces it
Part B · how computers work — the hardware
Binary and logic — how everything reduces to 0s and 1s
Binary number systemLogic gatesBits and bytesInteractive converter
The CPU — how a processor actually executes instructions
Fetch-decode-execute cycleClock speedCores and parallelismCPU vs GPU
Memory and storage — RAM, SSD, hard drive, and the hierarchy
Memory hierarchyLatency comparisonCacheVolatile vs non-volatile
The semiconductor industry — how chips are made and why it matters geopolitically
Fab processTSMC and the supply chainChip warsnm nodes explained
Part C · software — how computers are programmed
What software is — layers from machine code to applications
Machine code → assembly → high-levelOperating systemsAbstraction layers
Programming fundamentals — what every non-programmer should understand
Variables & data typesConditionals & loopsFunctionsAlgorithms & complexity
Data structures — how information is organised in software
Arrays & listsTrees & graphsHash tablesWhy it matters for performance
How the web works — HTTP, browsers, servers, and APIs
Client-server modelHTTP request cycleHTML/CSS/JS rolesAPIs explained
Open source — what it is and why it underpins almost all modern software
Open source licensesLinuxGitHubThe economics of free software
Part D · the internet and networks
How the internet works — packets, protocols, and the physical infrastructure
TCP/IPDNSSubmarine cablesISPs and peering
Cybersecurity fundamentals — how attacks work and how defence works
Attack typesEncryption basicsHTTPS & TLSSocial engineering
Cloud computing — what it is and what moved there
IaaS / PaaS / SaaSAWS, Azure, GCPEconomies of scaleData sovereignty
The platform economy — how tech giants built monopolies on networks
Network effectsWinner-take-all dynamicsGAFA business modelsRegulation debates
Part E · data and databases
How databases work — SQL, NoSQL, and why data is the new oil
Relational databasesSQL basicsNoSQL typesACID properties
Big data — what changed when data became massive
Volume, velocity, varietyHadoop & SparkData lakes vs warehouses
Privacy and surveillance — what data is collected and what it enables
Surveillance capitalismGDPRMetadataAnonymisation limits
Part F · artificial intelligence — what it is, how it works, and what it means
What AI actually is — and the difference from human intelligence
Narrow vs general AIThe Turing testWhat AI can and cannot do
Machine learning — how computers learn from data
Supervised learningUnsupervised learningReinforcement learningTraining & inference
Neural networks and deep learning — the architecture behind modern AI
PerceptronLayers & weightsBackpropagationWhy depth mattersVisual diagram
Large language models — how ChatGPT and Claude work
Transformers & attentionTokens & predictionPre-training & fine-tuningWhat LLMs know and don't
Computer vision, speech, and multimodal AI
CNNs for visionSpeech recognitionDiffusion models (image generation)Multimodal models
AI risk and governance — alignment, bias, and the big-picture questions
Alignment problemBias in training dataExistential risk debateRegulation landscape
AI and the economy — jobs, productivity, and what changes
Task automation vs job automationHistorical analogiesWhich jobs are most exposedProductivity paradox
Part G · emerging and frontier technologies
Quantum computing — what it is, what it could do, and the hype vs reality
Qubits & superpositionQuantum advantageTimeline realism
Biotechnology and the digital-biological convergence
CRISPRSynthetic biologyAlphaFoldDigital twins of organisms
Robotics and automation — physical AI in the world
Industrial roboticsHumanoid robotsAutonomous vehiclesThe uncanny valley