CS 343H: Honors Artificial Intelligence
        Tues/Thurs 11-12:15 pm, GDC 4.302
      
     
 

• Round robin semifinal round results
  
• Final tournament bracket from 4/30
  
• Final tournament "rematch" bracket from 5/6 (correcting for seeding issue)

Kristen Grauman
Office location: GDC 4.726
Office hours: Tues 12:15-1:15 pm and by appointment
Email: grauman@cs

Kim Houck
Office location: GDC basement computer lab, TA station
Office hours: Mon 11-12 and Thurs 12:30-1:30 pm
Email: houck@cs

Upper-division honors standing in CS

Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach, by Stuart Russell and Peter Norvig, Third edition

Reading, written, and programming assignments will be updated here. 
We expect the Python assignments to be done on CS UNIX machines.  While you are welcome to set up alternative development environments, e.g., on your personal machines and/or with an IDE, the teaching staff's support and assignment instructions will assume the common CS UNIX environment.
Please make use of Piazza to pose and answer questions about the assignments.  No spoilers please!
Submission instructions are here. 
Grades are available on Blackboard.

Slides from the classes as well as other resources will be updated here.

Please subscribe to the class mailing list.  The listname is "cs343h-spring2014".
Important class information may be sent to this list.  It is the student's responsibility to be subscribed.

There are three primary objectives for this course:

• To provide a broad survey of AI and Intelligent Systems
• To develop a deeper understanding of several major topics in AI
• To develop the design and programming skills that will help you to build intelligent systems

This course provides a broad introduction to artificial intelligence. Topics include:

• problem solving, including search and game playing
• knowledge and reasoning, including inference
• planning
• reasoning under uncertainty
• machine learning

Written responses to readings (10%):

Weekly readings will be posted on the class website on Tuesday to be due the following week. Associated with most readings will be questions that should be answered with concise, well-thought-out, coherent written responses by email to 343h.readings@gmail.com. The email should be in plain ascii text in the body of the email (not an attachment). Please use the subject line "class readings for [due date]". In some cases, no specific questions will be posted. In those cases, the responses should be free form. Credit will be based on evidence that you have done the readings carefully. Acceptable responses could include:

• Insightful questions;
• Clarification questions about ambiguities;
• Comments about the relation of the reading to previous readings;
• Critiques;
• Thoughts on what you would like to learn about in more detail;
• Possible extensions or related studies;
• Thoughts on the reading's importance; and
• Summaries of the most important things you learned.

These responses will be graded on a 3-point scale (very good, satisfactory, and missing/incomplete) and graded mostly on coherence and evidence of careful thought (most questions will not have a "right" answer).  Answers will be due by 8 pm the night before the class the associated reading is due (Monday or Wednesday night).  These deadlines are designed both to encourage you to do the readings before class and also to allow us to incorporate some of your responses into the class discussions.  

Class participation (10%):

Students are expected to be present in class having completed the readings and participate actively in the discussions.

Programming assignments (40%):

A series of programming assignments will be assigned throughout the semester.

Midterm (15%):

A midterm exam will be given in class on Thursday March 6.

Final (25%):

A final exam will be given during the regular final exam period.  The registrar lists our exam time as Monday, May 12, 2-5 pm in  CPE 2.218

If you turn in your assignment late, expect points to be deducted. No exceptions will be made for the written responses to readings-based questions (subject to the "notice about missed work due to religious holy days'' below). For other assignments, extensions will be considered on a case-by-case basis, but in most cases they will not be granted.  The greater the advance notice of a need for an extension, the greater the likelihood of leniency.

For programming assignments, by default, 10 points (out of 100) will be deducted for lateness for each day late.  One day late = from 1 minute to 24 hours past the deadline.  Two days late = from 24 hours and 1 minute to 48 hours past the deadline.  We will not accept assignments more than 4 days late, or once solutions have been discussed in class, whichever is sooner.

You are encouraged to discuss the readings and concepts with classmates. But all written work must be your own. And programming assignments must be your own, except for 2-person teams when teams are authorized.   If we do not explicitly authorize 2-person teams for an assignment, you can assume they are not permitted for that assignment.  All work ideas, quotes, and code fragments that originate from elsewhere must be cited according to standard academic practice. Students caught cheating will automatically fail the course. If in doubt, look at the departmental guidelines and/or ask.

The University of Texas at Austin provides upon request appropriate academic accommodations for qualified students with disabilities. To determine if you qualify, please contact the Dean of Students at 471-6529; 471-4641 TTY. If they certify your needs, I will work with you to make appropriate arrangements.

A student who misses an examination, work assignment, or other project due to the observance of a religious holy day will be given an opportunity to complete the work missed within a reasonable time after the absence, provided that he or she has properly notified the instructor. It is the policy of the University of Texas at Austin that the student must notify the instructor at least fourteen days prior to the classes scheduled on dates he or she will be absent to observe a religious holy day. For religious holy days that fall within the first two weeks of the semester, the notice should be given on the first day of the semester. The student will not be penalized for these excused absences, but the instructor may appropriately respond if the student fails to complete satisfactorily the missed assignment or examination within a reasonable time after the excused absence.

• This course closely follows the UC Berkeley AI course developed by Dan Klein.  We gratefully acknowledge course materials provided by Dan Klein and Pieter Abbeel.
• CS 343 Spring 2012, Peter Stone