Ya, the phrase "first principles" is vague...I meant starting from an axiomatic and actionable definition of AI and learning from there. The first chapter of AIMA does a swell job of enumerating different definitions of and then explicitly declaring which one is used and the foundational premises for the concepts and methods to follow. And it doesn't define AI then jump to neural networks, it gradually layers more atomic concepts, like agents (which I know, have been bastardized) and environments, until it gets to machine learning.

> The other big question is why you want to learn it.

Good question. I'm just looking for a wider context to understand contemporary AI. I don't know if this serves any practical purpose but I'm someone who likes to understand the "why" behind everything and starting from "first principles" helps uncover that.