CSE 473 (Winter 1997)
INTRODUCTION TO ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Instructor:

Steve Tanimoto, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195.

TA:

Jared Saia

Meetings:

Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays 2:30 PM to 3:20 AM, in Sieg Hall room 226.

Steve's Office Hours:

Wednesdays and Fridays 10:30-11:20 in Sieg 314.

Jared's Office Hours:

Tuesdays and Thursdays 11:00-12:00 in the carrels on the 4th floor of Sieg Hall.

Course Newsgroup:

We now have a newsgroup: uw-cs.courses.cse473

Course Mailing List: cse473

We now have a class email list: cse473@cs.
Here is our mailing list archive.

Schedule:

This is a tentative schedule: of topics. The reading assignments are shown after each topic.

Number of Credits:

3

Grading (Tentative):

Homework 20%
Midterm exam 15%
Final exam 25%
Project 35%
Class participation 5%

Hardcopy Readings:

Required text: The Elements of Artificial Intelligence Using Common Lisp, 2nd edition, W. H. Freeman, 1995. (I've worked hard to create an AI textbook that is self-contained, so you don't have to purchase a separate book on Lisp, you don't have to buy a separate book on AI example programs, and you don't have to purchase a separate book on the mathematical theory.)

Online reference materials for Lisp:

If you are ready to get started using Allegro Common Lisp for Windows, here are your very first steps.
The Lisp FAQ provides the answers to many questions about Lisp and its implementations.
Common Lisp: The Language, 2nd edition is the standard reference on Common Lisp. (It seems best if you access it via the table-of-contents page, rather than by trying to download the entire HTML file or postscript.)
You can get the source code for the Lisp programs from The Elements of Artificial Intelligence Using Common Lisp, 2nd edition.
Here are some interesting links to info about how to use Lisp for programming World-Wide Web applications.

Facilities:

In order to take advantage of the Allegro Common Lisp for Windows implementation of Lisp, with its excellent features for program development and interface construction, we are using the Intel Pentium PC laboratory in Sieg Hall.
There is a free version of Allegro Common Lisp that is for Windows 95 and Windows NT. It can be downloaded from franz.com on the Web. If you have this kind of computer at home, with at least 8MB of RAM, using this may be an attractive option for you.

Announcements

Welcome to this course and its course web! This course is about artificial intelligence. It covers both the mathematical theory of AI and the implementation of AI techniques in Lisp. Topics include Lisp programming techniques, knowledge representation, search, logical reasoning, probabilistic reasoning, case-based reasoning, planning, learning, language understanding, vision, neural nets, and expert systems.
The midterm exam was given Friday, Febrary 14. Here is information about the format and coverage of the exam. A review session was held Thursday, Feb. 13, from 10:30-11:20 in Sieg 422.

Here are the Solutions to the Midterm Examination problems.

Assignment 2, which is of a pencil-and-paper variety, was made available approximately January 29 and was due on Friday, Febrary 7.

The final exam is scheduled for Tuesday, March 18 from 2:30-4:20 in Sieg 226 (our regular classroom). More information is available here


Assignments

Assignment 1 first part due on Monday, January 13, in class.

Assignment 2 due on Friday, February 7, in class.

Assignment 3 is optional, but is due on Wednesday, March 12, in class.


Projects

The term project is an opportunity for you to choose one topic in artificial intelligence and explore it and some associated techniques in depth. Here are some rough guidelines. for the project. Please come up with a tentative project topic by Friday, January 24. Here are some suggestions.

Progress reports are due on Monday, February 10. These should include a detailed description of your topic, description of at least one and preferably two references, identification of the main technique(s) you plan to incorporate into your program, at least a sketch of the design for your program, and anything else you want to say about your progress so far.

Written project reports are due in class on Friday, March 14. Here is a checklist for what they should contain.

Project presentations are scheduled for Monday, March 10 and Wednesday, March 12. The signup list will be circulated in class on Friday, March 7. Here is more information about presentations.


Lecture Materials

Selected transparencies, outlines and other resources.


Last modified 7 March 1997 by S. Tanimoto (tanimoto@cs.washington.edu)