Bob Futrelle's Teaching

Here's the note I mailed to grads@ccs.neu.edu:

Subject:Information on Spring 2007 AI course, CSG120.
Starts Thursday, Jan. 11th

The graduate course in Artificial Intelligence (AI), CSG120, will be given by Professor Futrelle this Spring Semester, 2007. It will be held on Thursdays from 6pm to 9p in 110 Kariotis, starting on January 11th. A collection of basic information about the course, about a dozen web pages so far, is at:

http://www.ccs.neu.edu/home/futrelle/teaching/csg120sp2007/index.html

The course will be based on the leading AI text by Russell and Norvig. Some notable aspects of the course include:

* The first two classes will give a complete overview of the entire course, chapter by chapter, topic by topic. This should help in a variety of ways, including helping you to zero in on an interesting topic for your course project.

* In addition to the textbook topics, the course will discuss AI in console games as well as human and animal intelligence from the point of view of cognitive science.

* There are a large number of books on reserve in Snell library for this course and the separate undergraduate AI course I'll be teaching, CSU520. Use of some of these books will be required as part of your project. There are even four books on AI in game programming in the collection. I have an XBOX 360, which I hope to be able to run and project on the screen in class.

* Various modes for announcements and communication are set up: A course mailing list with archives is available; in addition to my regular office hours, I will have two evening sessions of IM office hours; I have a teaching blog for general notes on this course and other teaching topics I find interesting,

http://www.ccs.neu.edu/home/futrelle/teaching/blogs/index1.html

* I don't do PowerPoint lectures. Personally, I think they're pretty deadly. Instead, I encourage students to read the assigned material carefully, so the classes can be devoted to matters of answering questions, emphasis, examples, clarification, and interesting additional material. I do occasionally put things on the screen when it would take too much time to write out equations or draw diagrams, and such.

* My own research involves AI and has for some 25 years, so I know a fair amount about the subject. I'm not a hard-core theoretician, rather, a scientist who is interested in AI issues in the broadest sense. So the course will not focus on theory and mathematics in the way some do.

* Course topics include agents, search, logic, knowledge representation, uncertainty in representation and reasoning, learning, natural language, perception, robotics, game AI, and some topics from cognitive science.

Please mail me with any questions or comments you might have about the course.

-- Professor Futrelle

# posted by Bob Futrelle, Assoc. Prof. Northeastern U. @ 1:29 PM