Class 9 · Unit 3: Maths for AI · Lesson 3.1 · 40 min
Why AI needs maths
“I want to build AI,” says Bilal, “but I hate maths.” Then he remembers the talim, the trend line, the leaves.
Today you will: See a pattern and write it as a rule · Let a spreadsheet carry the rule on · Match questions to four branches of maths
Story
—: “I want to build AI. But I hate maths.” (Bilal tells his cousin, who studies in Srinagar.)
His cousin laughs. "Then you want to build something that spots patterns — without the subject that studies patterns."
Bilal starts to argue, and stops. In Class 6 he found the rule in a shawl weaver's talim. In Class 7 he drew a line through scattered points and read tomorrow off it. In Class 8 he trained a model on leaves.
Every one of those was maths, and nobody said the word.
Watch
Maths is the study of patterns — — scan code 9.3.1 in the printed book.
Warm up your fingers
5 minutes on typing.com: the symbols of the unit.
- Term 2 lessons, then by hand:
= ( ) + - * /— ten of each. - Then type these four words, five times each, without looking down:
statisticsprobabilityalgebracalculus
On the laptop
Tool: LibreOffice Calc. New file, saved as patterns.ods in my-data-9.
Part A: Find the rule, then make the machine follow it (8 min)
Mission 1: Your mission
- ☐1
In A1 type
Term, B1Number. Fill A2:A11 with 1 to 10. - ☐2
In B2:B6, type this sequence:
11,22,33,44,55. Say the rule out loud to your partner before you type anything else. - ☐3
Now write the rule as a formula. In B7 type
=B6+11and fill down to B11. The sheet continues the pattern for you. - ☐4
That is the whole idea of this unit. You saw a pattern, wrote it as a rule, and a machine carried the rule on without you.
- ☐5
In D2, answer: what is the middle value of 11, 22, 33, 44, 55? Check yourself with
=MEDIAN(B2:B6). - ☐6
Try a harder one. In F2:F6 type
2,6,12,20,30. Work out the rule with your partner, then write a formula in F7 that continues it. (Hint: look at the gaps between the numbers, not the numbers.) Part B: Sort the questions into branches (8 min)
- ☐7
Open
unit-3/four-branches.ods. Column A holds twelve questions. Column B is empty. - ☐8
For each question, type one of:
Statistics,Probability,Linear algebra,Calculus. - ☐9
Compare with the pair beside you. Where you disagree, argue it out before checking the teacher's answer — the arguing is the lesson.
No laptop today?
Do Part A on the board and in notebooks: write the sequence, state the rule in words, extend it by five more terms. For Part B, the teacher reads each question aloud and students hold up one of four cards — S, P, L or C — cut from printables/Four branch cards. A whole class answering at once shows the disagreements immediately.
Now you know
- Maths is the study of patterns in numbers, images and language.
- AI recognises patterns in order to decide something. Maths isn't decoration; it's the working parts.
- A pattern written as a rule is a formula. A rule a machine can follow step by step is an algorithm — a word that is a man's name, as you learned in Class 6.
- This year: statistics and probability. Linear algebra and calculus return in Class 11, when models start being trained, not just used.
Debate it
An AI can find a pattern in almost anything — including data where the pattern means nothing at all.
If maths is the study of patterns, whose job is it to decide which patterns are worth acting on? Give a reason for your answer.
Check yourself — practice, not a test
1. Maths is the study of ______.
2. "What is the most common value in this data?" is a question for:
- ○ Statistics
- ○ Probability
- ○ Linear algebra
- ○ Calculus
3. Match each branch to what it does for AI:
Statistics · Probability · Linear algebra · Calculus
Match with: predicting events · finding unknown or missing values · training and improving the model · exploring data4. AI needs maths only for the final answer, not for finding patterns.
- ○ True
- ○ False
5. In 2, 6, 12, 20, 30 — what comes next?
- ○ 36
- ○ 40
- ○ 42
- ○ 45
Remember
Maths is the study of patterns. AI is a way of recognising them. That is why one needs the other.