This course is for anyone wondering how computers work, why they have become so smart, and how they compare to the human brain. Computers, at their core, are simple beasts, and yet confound us with their brilliance and their stupidity. To unravel this paradox, we will see how their basic components combine into higher and higher levels of abstraction, creating a veritable cathedral in the sky (when they're not being stupid). Brains, on the other hand, are ridiculously complicated. We will get glimpses of this complexity throughout the course, especially when we explore deep learning and artificial neural networks, up to and including ChatGPT. We will also see how computers, like brains, can learn for themselves, rather than just doing what they're told. No previous knowledge is required. The course will focus more on theoretical ideas than practical things such as how to use a computer.