6K:299 Intelligent Systems

Fall 2006
1:30 - 2:20 p.m. MWF C208 PBB

Instructor: Nick Street
     Office: S232 PBAB
     Phone: 335-1016
     Office hours: TTh 11:00-12:00 or by appointment
     Email: nick-street@uiowa.edu

Prequisite: None. A basic understanding of computing concepts (algorithms, data structures) and probability theory will be assumed.

Textbook: Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach, second edition, S. Russell and P. Norvig, Prentice Hall, 2003.

Readings from other sources will be made available in class.

Course description:

In this course you will learn the basics of artificial intelligence, the science of building autonomous agents that exhibit intelligent behavior. We will look at different ways of applying these techniques to real-world problems from domains such as health care, marketing, finance, and engineering.

Grading:

50% Homeworks
45% Final exam
5% Class participation

The score - grade mapping will be determined by the instructor at the end of the course. The usual 90/80/70 cutoffs will be used as a baseline, but may be adjusted.

Attendance:

Attendance is not required but is strongly encouraged. You will be responsible for knowing everything that happens in class, and everything that is posted to the ICON site. Your attendance will contribute to your class participation score.

Late assignments:

All assignments are expected to be turned in at the beginning of class on their assigned due date. Late assignments will be penalized 10% of the available points, and another 10% will be deducted for every 24-hour period after the original due date.  In general, your best strategy is to turn in whatever you have finished when the assignment is due.

Academic Dishonesty:

Students are allowed to collaborate freely on homework assignments, but you must prepare the final submission independently to make sure you understand each step. Identical homework submissions will be considered evidence of academic dishonesty. Exam scores will be based on individual work. No discussion or outside sources are allowed during the exam.

Any act of academic dishonesty will result in a grade of zero for the assignment or exam. A second violation by the same student will result in a grade of F for the course. Appeals will be handled according to the undergraduate honor code of the Tippie College of Business, found at http://www.biz.uiowa.edu/upo/advising/honorcode.html.

All class policies on matters such as requirements, grading, and sanctions for academic dishonesty are governed by the College of Business. Students wishing to add or drop this course after the official deadline must receive the approval of the Dean of the College of Business. Details of the University policy of cross enrollments may be found at http://www.uiowa.edu/~provost/deos/crossenroll.doc

Learning disabilities:

If any member of this class feels that he or she has a disability and needs special accomodations of any nature, I will work with you to provide reasonable accomodations to ensure that you have a fair opportunity to perform in this class. Please advise me of such disability and the desired accomodation during the first week of the class.

Content:

Time permitting, the following topics will be discussed. Other specialized topics may be added depending on the interests of the students and the whims of the instructor.