FAQ
Frequently asked questions, including the one about whether this course can guarantee a date. It cannot.
Do I need a dating app, a partner or a real profile?
No. All exercises use synthetic data and fictional profiles. Do not scrape real accounts, upload private conversations or recruit unsuspecting people into experiments. You can complete the course without sharing personal relationship information. See the participation policies.
What programming language should I use?
Use one you can explain and reproduce. Hand calculations and spreadsheets are useful for checking small cases; code becomes useful for simulation. The toolkit includes a JavaScript reference scorer and CSV data. If you reimplement the scorer, show that it agrees on the supplied cases.
Are Tutorials different from the labs in the notes?
They are the same session: a 90-minute, hands-on lab on Thursday in weeks 2–12. There is no tutorial in week 1; the first is 4 March. “Tutorials” is the navigation label; “lab” describes the activity. Each tutorial page lists its preparation, exercise and output.
Does “top 1%” mean I must outperform real dating profiles?
No. The final project compares one fictional candidate with 99 supplied synthetic controls. The benchmark is deliberately inspectable, and its rank does not predict romantic success. Reaching the target is not a grading requirement: the project brief assesses your evaluation, reproducibility and defence of the release.
How do I submit work or sit the midterm?
The report and project use the handover arrangements in policies; this public site has no upload portal. The midterm is an in-room exam, not a file deadline. Check the relevant assignment brief for the date, format and required materials.
How much time should I set aside?
Plan for around six hours in weeks 2–12: 60 minutes of lecture, 90 minutes of tutorial and about 210 minutes of independent work. Each lecture page gives the selected slides and allocates preparation, remaining pack material and consolidation or assessment work. The complete teaching packs include 180-minute reference routes for a full sitting; these reuse the weekly material and are not extra contact hours or another three hours of required study. The midterm has its own exam slot. Week 1 is lecture-only, with optional review and no separate deliverable. Keep each tutorial’s artefact: later exercises reuse earlier assumptions, experiments and evaluation results. The timetable shows the twelve weeks and mid-semester pause.
Can I use AI tools?
The rules differ by assessment. For the report and project, disclose assistance and verify the work you keep; you must be able to explain and reproduce it. The midterm does not permit AI tools. Read the assessment and tool-use policies before starting.