AI

[ferunandesu]

was anyone here ever taken a class in Artificial Intelligence?

i scheduled CSCI (PHIL) 4550/6550 - Artificial Intelligence for the next fall semester... the class had no prereqs, so i thought that i shouldn't have a problem... then i started asking around, and people were suprised that I wanted to take a 4000/6000 level course as a sophomore. they also said that the class was hard as fuck... and not a good idea to take with the rest of my schedule (discrete math for comp sci, a physics course, and chinese)

anyone have any thoughts?

it would be especially helpful if you can give me a good idea of what to expect...

[KuJo]

was anyone here ever taken a class in Artificial Intelligence?

i scheduled CSCI (PHIL) 4550/6550 - Artificial Intelligence for the next fall semester... the class had no prereqs, so i thought that i shouldn't have a problem... then i started asking around, and people were suprised that I wanted to take a 4000/6000 level course as a sophomore. they also said that the class was hard as fuck... and not a good idea to take with the rest of my schedule (discrete math for comp sci, a physics course, and chinese)

anyone have any thoughts?

it would be especially helpful if you can give me a good idea of what to expect...

i looked at some of the work involved for one of those classes.... and it looks pretty challenging. i dont think i would be able to handle a class like that with a regular load.

[ferunandesu]

i looked at some of the work involved for one of those classes.... and it looks pretty challenging. i dont think i would be able to handle a class like that with a regular load.

where did you see the work involved?

[mancroft]

Never studied AI except at a very rudimentary level but it is VERY challenging.

[ferunandesu]

sweet

*vomits*

[KuJo]

where did you see the work involved?

i went up to a college campus to visit. and i had looked online and saw they had courses in AI, so i asked about the workload involved if i took it as an elective. they told me, then the student who was touring us said that he heard it was impossible.

[Rhu]

I have taken a course in AI, though I did so as a grad student--it wasn't really too hard for me, but I think I took every math course that involved proof that I could find as an undergrad. The structure and language of mathematics is everywhere in computer science, but I really couldn't imagine approaching AI without requiring that as background.

So, err... If you haven't taken Discrete Math yet, AI is a really really bad idea.

[ferunandesu]

i'll ask the professor who teaches it

i don't see why they would allow me to register for it if this is true

most courses have at least one prereq, and that prereq usually has a prereq as well... this had NOTHING... no calculus, no programming, no philosophy/TOK/logic, not even algebra...

EDIT:

Recommended Background:
Familiarity with first-order logic, basic graph representations and algorithms, complexity and at least one high level programming language.

I also asked my comp sci TA, and she said that I would be fine... If I had Doc Potter... and I don't... I have Doc Doshi... and he's a wildcard

but I do have Doc Potter for Discrete Math at the same time... maybe that'll help

[Rhu]

It could have been an erroneous submission by the course creator and sloppy bookkeeping by the department's or school's secretary or chairperson.

[TelecomClone]

Artificial Intelligence is my major. If you're in an intro class, which would be the case where there are no prereqs, then you're likely to generally cover core topics like heuristic search, probabilities, data structures, discrete logic, a bit of predicate calculus and probably some statistics. You'll get a lot of overview about the basic problems and approaches to AI. It also depends upon what sort of AI you're going to be dealing with, but I would not be surprised if your class focused around database searching and very basic videogame AI - meaning there will likely be some elementary programming. C++ or Java at the intro level I would assume, so you wouldn't even have to worry about Assembly or something analogous.

Personally, I've never found AI to be as challenging as some people seem to think it is. It certainly isn't something to worry about at the intro level. You'll be fine.

[Xenophon]

As a sophomore, don't take it. Simple as that. You will get much more out of the course if you have a solid understanding of the fundamentals that it draws on.

Edit: And honestly, you may be smart, but you just don't know that much going into your sophomore year. I didn't know shit when I was a sophomore. Pay attention and learn the fundamentals, then take this course in your third or fourth year.

[TelecomClone]

Edit: And honestly, you may be smart, but you just don't know that much going into your sophomore year. I didn't know shit when I was a sophomore. Pay attention and learn the fundamentals, then take this course in your third or fourth year.I do not understand this - I took my first AI course in my freshman year and it was not a problem. What 'fundamentals' are you talking about? Intro classes teach fundamentals. I think that all of you are making the poor guy paranoid for no reason. It sounds like he's a CS major already, so it really shouldn't be some kind of monumental task for him to get his head around. It's just logic and algorithms and generalities at that level. It's not like they're going to ask him to fabricate a parallel computing array.

[Xenophon]

I do not understand this. I took my first AI course in my freshman year and it was not a problem. What 'fundamentals' are you talking about? Intro classes teach fundamentals.

Ok, maybe his course numbering system is different from mine. But to me, 4000 means a fourth year course. It may not have specific prerequisites, but it expects someone who is a senior level CS student. But if it is like a freshman introduction course, then you should take it if you are oging to become an AI major.

I was likening it to Control Systems for me. It is my focus right now, but I didn't take my first control systems course until the beginning of my senior year. If you didn't understand linear algebra, dynamics, or laplace and fourier transforms, you would have been overwhelmed by the course.

[TelecomClone]

Ok, maybe his course numbering system is different from mine. But to me, 4000 means a fourth year course.That's what I assumed as well, and my freshman AI was 4k, but the prereqs are what matters here. And looking at what he said they are, I feel pretty sure that it's an intro course probably geared towards piquing interest in graduate study. That'll be basics.

[ferunandesu]

this AI course is only an intro - and it's a requirement for cognitive science majors - which is the major that is supposedly the best preparation for the masters degree in AI offered here

www.ai.uga.edu

i'm not a comp sci major. i plan to get a minor in comp sci, but only because there are two upper level courses that i want to take (robotics, video game design), and the prereqs are enough for a minor

precalculus, differential calculus, integral calculus, introduction to computer science and programming, software development, introduction to psychology, introduction to anthropology, and introduction to philosophy are the only cognitive science core courses that i'll have before i take AI

i would be an anthropology major if they gave access to upper level psych courses... but, sadly... cog science is the only one that'll let you do it... so i'll just major in that for now, and then go to grad school for anthropology... all leading to video game design...

[TelecomClone]

Then you'll certainly be quite alright in that class, ferunandesu. Believe me, all of this doomspeak is not warranted.

[ferunandesu]

where do you go to school?

AI programs are pretty rare

[TelecomClone]

where do you go to school?University of Massachusetts.




AI programs are pretty rareSee related:
http://dis.cs.umass.edu/
http://ciir.cs.umass.edu/

[Xenophon]

Ok. I went through an engineering program, and it would have been suicide for me to take a fourth year course in my second year. But it sounds like TelecomClone is more familiar with your situation. Engineering 4000 level courses tend to require a thorough understanding of certain fundamental math.

I took a robotics course, and it required thorough knowledge of dynamics, linear algebra, and control systems. And I had to work like a dog in that class. Figuring out the equations of motion for the Canadarm is a daunting task.

[ferunandesu]

Figuring out the equations of motion for the Canadarm is a daunting task.

<_<

http://www.cs.uga.edu/~potter/robotics/robopics_files/fall05-1.JPG (http://www.cs.uga.edu/%7Epotter/robotics/robopics_files/fall05-1.JPG)

not quite the Canadarm