CS 4811
Artificial Intelligence

Spring 2009 
TR, 11:05pm - 12:20pm, Fisher Hall 231

Course description:

Fundamental ideas and techniques that are used in the construction of AI problem solvers. Topics include knowledge representation, problem solving, heuristics, search heuristics, inference mechanisms, expert systems, and language understanding.
Prerequisite: CS3311 and junior standing

Instructor

Name and URL: Dr. Nilufer Onder
Office: 309 Rekhi Hall
Phone: (906) 487 1641
Office Hour: My office hours are on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday between 11:00 - noon.
Note that it is impossible for me to set up an office hour that fits everybody's schedules, so feel free to ask for a meeting when you need one. The best way to set up an appointment with me is to send me an e-mail message. In your message, make sure to list the times that are good for you. When you send an e-mail to me please put the class number (CS4811) in the subject line along with a descriptive subject.

Textbook

Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach Second edition by Stuart Russell and Peter Norvig Prentice Hall Series in Artificial Intelligence, 2003

Please check out the book's web site.
This is the latest edition of the book. It came out in 2003.
I will ask you to read sections from this textbook. I will also be assigning exercises from it.
I will also be handing out supplementary material when needed.

Grading

 

Assignments	40%
Midterm exam 1	20%
Midterm exam 2	20%
Final exam	20%

The final grade will be calculated using a sliding scale using the percentages above.

Course topics

The following are the topics that will be covered this semester:

Topic	Sections from the textbook
Introduction	Chapter 1
Intelligent Agents	Chapter 2
Neural Networks	Section 20.5
Solving Problems by Searching	Sections 3.1 - 3.5
Informed Search and Exploration	Sections 4.1 - 4.3
Adversarial Search	Sections 6.1 - 6.3
Logical Agents	Chapter 7
First-Order Logic	Chapter 8
Inference in First-Order Logic	Chapter 9
Learning from Observations	Chapter 18
Knowledge in Learning	Chapter 19
Planning	Chapter 11
Knowledge Representation	Chapter 10

Academic Integrity---information and policy:

If copying, plagiarism, or unauthorized collaboration is suspected, the case will be turned to the Dean of Students' office with supporting evidence. After this, the decision is made by the Dean. The procedure is explained in the MTU Academic Integrity Policy (this is required reading!). More tips and information can be found at the Dean of Students' page. The "Featured Links" on that page include a link to a 12 minute video presentation called "Academic Integrity at Michigan Tech - What Students Need to Know." Note that we have a departmental policy of reporting the suspected cases to the Department Chair's office.

You are expected to use common sense and the general outlines in the Academic Integrity Policy to make decisions. Some points specific to this course are:

If you need help:

Come to see me during my office hour, send your question over e-mail, or send me an e-mail message to set up an appointment. Do not hesitate to ask questions about the basics too. Try to do this early though. While I make every effort to answer last-minute questions before exams or due dates, I might not be able to check my messages in the evening or over the weekend.

You may ask your friends in the class for clarification, and work over the material I supply together. You are not allowed to look at their answers or programs.

If someone asks you to help on an assignment:

You may answer clarification questions and general questions about the concepts. You are not allowed to show them your work.

If you use any other textbook or anything from the web:

You may use it by clearly acknowledging the source and its contribution to your work. For instance, "I found a program at http://www.xxx.yyy and built my program on top of it."

Assignments---information and policy:

You will be assigned both programming and paper-pencil homeworks. While discussion with others is permitted and encouraged, the final work should be done individually. The programs, comments, and answers must be the original work of the author.

All the assigments should be handed-in at or before the beginning of class on the due date. Late submissions are not accepted unless you notify me in advance with a reasonable excuse. Even so, late submissions may lose points in order to maintain fairness of grading.

I expect legible program source and documents---free of wrapped lines and neatly organized.

Exams---information and policy:

The midterm exams will be a 1-class-hour (75 minutes), in-class, closed books/notes/workstations/neighbors, open minds exam. The final exam's format will be similar.

There will be no make-up exams. In the case of very unusual circumstances (e.g., death in the family, severe illness with doctor's written note), please come to see me and we can work something out.

As with the assignments, it is your responsibility to return legible answers. Unfortunately, I do not have the resources to decipher bad handwriting and might have to assume that no answer was given.

Collaboration or dishonesty during the exams is not acceptable and will be reported to the Dean of Students' office (please see the "Academic Integrity" section above).

Required Background

I assume that you can read Lisp programs and you can program well using Java or C++.

If you think you have gaps in your background, please come and see me.