Syllabus for cs534: Introduction to Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Professor Neil Heffernan

nth@wpi.edu, Fuller Labs 237, 508-831-5569

Course Web Page: www.cs.wpi.edu/~nth/cs534/home.html

Office Hours: Wednesday 2 PM or by appointment.

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

This is an introductory graduate AI course.

During the semester we will cover general knowledge representation techniques and problem solving strategies. Topics will include search, intelligent agents, game playing, rule-based systems, logic programming, frames(or semantic networks), planning, and uncertain reasoning.

Prerequisites: A familiarity with data structures and their analysis (Big O) and a recursive high-level language. Knowledge of LISP is an advantage.

For the catalog description of this course see the WPI Graduate Catalog.

CLASS MEETING:

Wed 6pm – 8:50 pm.

FL 327

Students are also encouraged to attend the AIRG Seminar Thursdays at 11 am.

INSTRUCTOR:

Prof. Neil Heffernan
nth@cs.wpi.edu
Office: FL 237
Phone Number: (508) 831-5569
Office Hours: Wednesday 2 PM or by appointment . If you plan to come to office hours, but not right at 2 PM, send me some email letting me knowing you are coming and I make sure I am there, otherwise I might think no one is coming to office hours.

Other speakers will occasionally be invited to lecture to the class. Dave Brown is Scheduled for Sept 11, and Oct 16, the day we have the midterm.

TEXTBOOK:

Stuart Russell and Peter Norvig, Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach, Prentice Hall 1995. Required Text.

Paul Graham, ANSI Common Lisp, Prentice-Hall, 1995 is a great Lisp book, but doesn't have an AI-focus like W&H (below). Optional text

Several additional readings will be handed out during the semester.

GRADES:

There will be a total of 2 exams. Each exam will cover the material presented in class since the beginning of the semester. In particular, the final exam is cumulative. Both will be in-class exams.

Midtem Exam 1	20%
Final Exam 2	20%
Homeworks and Quizzes	60%
Class Participation	Extra Points

Homeworks and Projects: The homeworks and projects are designed for your learning. Some homeworks will be just written, while most will have some programming component. Not all assignments will be worth the same amount. I will determine the relative worth of the assignments after assessing the time required to complete them.

Un-announced pop quizzes will be given on the reading. Please do the reading.

Cheating Policy:

Your final grade will reflect your own work and achievements during the course.

Warning: I get personal angry at cheating, and deal with it as strongly as possibly. I spend a good deal of time trying to detect it, and if you cheat in my course, I will work to have to you expelled from the University. It goes without saying that any type of cheating will be penalized with an F grade for the course and will be reported to the WPI Judicial Board in accordance with the Academic Honesty Policy.

CLASS PARTICIPATION

Students are expected to read the material assigned to each class in advance and to participate in class. Class participation will be taken into account when deciding students' final grades.

CLASS MAILING LIST

The mailing list for this class is: cs534@cs.wpi.edu
You MUST subscribe to the mailing list by sending the following one-line email message to majordomo@cs.wpi.edu:

subscribe cs534

CLASS WEB PAGES

The web pages for this class are located at http://www.cs.wpi.edu/~nth/cs534/home.html

Announcements will be posted on the web pages and/or the class mailing list, and so you are urged to check your email and the class web pages frequently.

ADDITIONAL SUGGESTED REFERENCES

(See also the list of assigned papers in the Class Schedule.)

General AI

The following additional references complement and/or supplement the material contained in the required textbook.

1. T. Dean, J. Allen, Y. Aloimonos. "Artificial Intelligence: Theory and Practice" The Benjamin/Cummings Publishing Company, Inc. 1995.

2. B. L. Webber, N. J. Nilsson, eds. "Readings in Artificial Intelligence" Tioga Publishing Company, 1981.

3. Patrick H. Winston. "Artificial Intelligence" 3rd edition Addison Wesley.

4. S. L. Tanimoto. "The Elements of Artificial Intelligence Using Common Lisp" Computer Science Press 1990.

5. E. Rich and K. Knight. "Artificial Intelligence" Second edition McGraw Hill 1991.

6. P. Norvig "Paradigms of Artificial Intelligence Programming: Case Studies in Common Lisp" Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, 1992.

7. M. Ginsberg "Essentials of Artificial Intelligence" Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, 1993.

8. G. F. Luger and W. A. Stubblefield "Artificial Intelligence Structures and Strategies for Complex Problem Solving" Third edition Addison-Wesley, 1998.

9. M.R. Genesereth and N. Nilsson, "Logical Foundations of Artificial Intelligence" Morgan Kaufmann, 1987.

Machine Learning

1. Tom M. Mitchell "Machine Learning" McGraw-Hill, 1997.

P. Langley "Elements of Machine Learning" Morgan Kauffamann Publishers, Inc. 1996.

Lisp/Prolog Textbooks and Manuals

1. G. L. Steele Jr. "Common Lisp: The language'' 2nd edition Digital Press, 1990. (ISBN 1-55558-041-6)
This reference is online.

Patrick H. Winston and Berthold K.P. Horn "Lisp" 3rd edition.
L. Sterling, E. Shapiro "The Art of Prolog" MIT Press, 1986.