CS 201W: Artificial Intelligence & Science Fiction

Announcements:  Check here regularly for announcements!

Welcome to AI & SciFi! 

Daily information is put in the assignments available on the handouts page.  Please use D2L for homework submission and turnitin.com for essay submission.

Previous Announcements

Course description: This course will explore the interplay between science fiction from the 1950s to the present and the development of the field of artificial intelligence (AI). By juxtaposing science fiction, in the form of short stories, novels, and movies, with technical information about artificial intelligence, students will gain a broad understanding of the complex theoretical, societal and ethical issues inherent in the rapidly developing field of AI.  Technical topics will include Turing tests, intelligent agents, artificial senses, problem solving approaches, game playing, information retrieval, machine translation and robotics. 

Pre-requisites: There are no prerequisites for this course HOWEVER it is strongly suggested that you have completed English composition since this is a writing intensive course.  You must be able to plan, develop, and write college-level essays.

Professor: Rebecca Bates (bates@mnsu.edu) 
Contact Information

Course Hours and Location

Monday, Tuesday, Thursday 10am-4pm (with a variable lunchbreak)	WH 286A
Lab (as needed)	TR E 315

Lab assignments are based on your previous programming experience.

Office Hours
Prof. Bates will be available after the close of each class.  All office hours will be by appointment.  Email can be used to contact me and get replies.  Expect a reply quickly on class days.  You can usually expect responses to questions the same day if received prior to 10pm. If things that are useful for the entire class come up, they will be posted on the announcement section of the class webpage so check it regularly.

Course Materials
Recommended texts:
M. Tim Jones, Artificial Intelligence: A Systems Approach, 2008

Required texts: See the list of required and suggested readings (tentative as of May 11, 2009).

Choose a writing style guide book to have near you as you write for this course.  The bookstore has several.  A list of suggested guides is on the paper guidelines.
Additionally, there will be suggested books, articles and information linked to from the website and available at the library.  You will also be expected to find your own source information for papers and presentations.

Course Syllabus

1. Demonstrate an awareness of the technical aspects of artificial intelligence and the range of topics associated with the field;
2. Demonstrate awareness of the scope and variety of science fiction and the relationship between literature and the field of AI;
3. Understand those works as expressions of individual and human values within an historical and social context;
4. Respond critically to works of science fiction;
5. Articulate an informed personal reaction to works of science fiction;
6. Identify key social and ethical issues related to artificial intelligence in society such as liability for errors, responsibility and societal obligations, privacy and discrimination.
7. Examine, articulate, and apply their own ethical views in the context of AI and science fiction;
8. Analyze and reflect on the ethical dimensions of social and scientific issues given input from works of fiction that examines the human context with respect to artificial intelligence;
9. Recognize the diversity of political motivations and interests of others through works of fiction and discussion;
10. Expand their repertoire of writing through multiple forms (informal, exploratory, reflective, and formal);
11. Expand their knowledge of the writing process;
    
12. Use writing to explore and gain a basic familiarity with the ethical and technical questions associated with artificial intelligence;
13. Locate, analyze, evaluate, and use source material or data in their writing appropriate for formal essays to show an understanding of the technical, literary and ethical issues connected to AI.

Grading
Your course grade will be based on two major writing assignments (with required revisions), daily reflection/response papers, an essay-based final examination, and your class participation/preparation.
Major Writing Assignments: 40%
Reflection/Response Papers: 35%
Participation and Attendance: 10%
Final exam: 15%

Final Exam Due:  5pm, June 10, 2009

Course Tools

• Desire2Learn: This web-based software package will be used for turning in programming assignments, programming exams and feedback surveys.
• Orange Data Mining: A tool for testing various AI approaches.

Other Information

CS 201W Handouts and Assignments

CS 201W Grading, Collaboration and Make-up Policies

Additional Resources

Here is a listing of useful AI URLs (thanks to Prof. Roiger). The reference is listed below.

• http://aaai.org
• http://www.cs.toronto.edu/~suzanne/naacl/
• www.auai.org
• www.cognitivesciencesociety.org
• www.cra.org
• http://cscsi.sfu.ca
• www.flairs.com
• www.iasted.org
• http://ieee-cis.org/
• http://ijcai.org
• www.inns.org
• http://www.acm.org/sigart
• ww.acm.org/sigkdd
• www.cs.uvm.edu/%7exwu/tfvi/index.shtml
• http://tab.computer.org/pamitc
• www.kdnuggets.com

Majority taken from: Hamilton, M., Mitchell T., and Hamilton, C. (2003). AI Matures and Flourishes in North America. IEEE Intelligent Systems, July/August, 87-89.

What do all the acronyms mean?

• www.webopedia.com: an online dictionary of computer and internet terminology.

How can I get information on just about anything?

• www.wikipedia.com: an online project to create a consensus-based encyclopedia with entries on just about everything.

Page last modified by R.A. Bates on 11/12/2009 09:57 AM.