We’re exploring how machines "see" and how that vision can be used to restore human agency. In this installment of Stanford’s CS21SI, we move from the technical mechanics of Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) to life-changing applications in healthcare, accessibility, and conservation.

Key Topics:

• The Social Model of Disability: Reframing disability not as a medical failure, but as a limit to agency that inclusive technology can solve.

• CNNs Under the Hood: Understanding filters, convolution, and why biological inspiration from the visual cortex is the secret to processing pixels.

• Case Study: "Autism Glass": A look at wearable tech designed to assist with affect recognition in real-time.

• Global Impact: From identifying skin cancer and tracking biodiversity to accelerating disaster relief via satellite imagery.

• The Human-in-the-Loop: Why interpretability and "Saliency Maps" are critical when AI assists in high-stakes medical decisions.

Note: This is an AI-generated study resource created via NotebookLM based on Stanford CS21SI materials and personal study notes.