Deep Learning for GENERAL: JDLA Certificate Examination (G-Certificate)

Syllabus

• [Technical] What artificial intelligence is (the definition of AI, the problems debated in the field)
• [Technical] Trends in artificial intelligence (search and reasoning, knowledge representation and expert systems, machine learning, deep learning)
• [Technical] Machine learning (overview, supervised learning, unsupervised learning, reinforcement learning, model selection and evaluation)
• [Technical] Deep learning (overview, neural networks, activation functions, loss functions, regularisation, backpropagation, optimisation methods)
• [Technical] Deep learning building blocks (fully connected layers, convolutional layers, normalisation layers, pooling layers, skip connections, recurrent layers, attention, autoencoders, data augmentation)
• [Technical] Applications of deep learning (image recognition, natural language processing, speech processing, deep reinforcement learning, data generation, transfer learning and fine-tuning, multimodal models, model interpretability, model compression)
• [Technical] Putting AI into practice (how to run an AI project; collecting, processing, analysing and training on data)
• [Technical] The mathematics and statistics needed for AI
• [Law and ethics] Law and contracts relating to AI (Act on the Protection of Personal Information, Copyright Act, Patent Act, Unfair Competition Prevention Act, Antimonopoly Act, AI development outsourcing contracts, AI service provision contracts)
• [Law and ethics] AI ethics and AI governance (domestic and international guidelines, privacy, fairness, safety and security, misuse, transparency, democracy, environmental protection, labour policy, other important values, AI governance)

Questions people ask

What proportion do I need to pass?

It is not published. JDLA states in its official FAQ that it does not disclose the passing line or scores, and candidates are not told their own score either. Any figure of the form "you need X percent" is an unofficial estimate.

Is the online exam or the test-centre exam the better option?

They lead to the same certificate; the difference is whether you sit at home or at a venue. The time limits differ, though: 100 minutes online and 120 minutes at a test centre. Both have about 145 questions. You cannot switch between them after applying, and because they run on separate systems you need to register an account for each.

Has the number of questions changed?

Yes. JDLA changed the number of questions from the G2024#6 sitting onwards, where it had previously been around 200, and the current official figure is approximately 145. Older question books and pass reports may assume the old number.

Are there discounts?

For the online exam, yes. A retake within two years of your previous sitting is half price (JPY 6,600 general, JPY 2,750 students); an AI For Everyone completion certificate gives 30% off (JPY 9,240 general, JPY 3,850 students); and coupons are issued to people at JDLA regular and supporting member companies. The test-centre exam has no discount schemes.

Once I buy a voucher, can I sit the exam whenever I like?

Only at a sitting you book within its validity period. A voucher is valid for one year from purchase, cannot be extended, and is good for one use. If you do not apply within that period it lapses and is not refunded. You can cancel a booked exam date up to 11:59:59 p.m. two days before the exam, and a cancelled voucher can be reused within its validity period.