Description: Over 50 years ago, scientists began to envision a world where computers and humans could converse. In 1956 the field of 'Artificial Intelligence' was officially born, and the work on 'AI' began in earnest. Walking and talking robots are still the stuff of science fiction, but AI is close to making them reality. In this course, we will explore the field of Artificial Intelligence. We will try to answer the question 'what makes a machine intelligent?' Among the systems we will explore in lecture will be game-playing systems, systems that learn from their environments, and systems that create plans for complex tasks. Underlying all the topics addressed in this course will be two fundamental issues: How can information be represented in a computer so that the machine is able to make use of it? How can the system manipulate that information so that it is able to perform a task that requires intelligence? This course will emphasize hands-on laboratory experience. Laboratory projects will focus on the building and programming of simple robots.

Format: lectures/labs. Evaluation will be based on weekly laboratory programming assignments, four problem sets, short papers, and a final examination having similar format to the problem sets.

Fulfills the Quantitative Reasoning requirement

Prerequisites: This course does not assume any programming experience, but assumes that the student is comfortable working with a computer. This course is not open to students who have successfully completed a Computer Science course numbered 136 or above.

CS 108 home page

Scheduled Offerings:

	Fall 08	108-01	(LEC)	MWF	9:00-9:50	Danyluk
	Fall 08	108-02	(LAB)	R	1:00-2:30	Danyluk
	Fall 09	108-01	(LEC)	MWF	11:00-11:50	Danyluk
	Fall 09	108-02	(LAB)	R	1:00-2:30	Danyluk