CSCI 335 - Artificial Intelligence

Fall 2017

Final Project

Goal

The goal of the project is for you to learn about an aspect of artificial intelligence in greater depth than we have studied during this course. You may choose to write an expository paper, a computer program, or select an option that combines both elements. You may also extend a previous assignment.

Options

Expository: Research a category of at least four distinct intelligent algorithms and write a report describing each one. Your paper should educate the reader about the systems you have investigated. One method for educating the reader is to illustrate each algorithm by a detailed example. No programming is required.
Programming: Implement an intelligent algorithm that has capabilities that none of our assignments this semester have evidenced. You will be required to have one reference work, from which you obtain the algorithm for the system you implement. You will also be required to implement at least two alterations to this algorithm, and perform an empirical comparison between the original algorithm and your altered versions. You will also write a paper describing the algorithm, your alterations, your empirical comparison, and (to the extent that it is possible) a theoretical comparison. Implementations may use any programming language you would like. Ideally, the paper should contain sufficient detail to understand the algorithms implemented without having to look at the source code. It should also contain enough detail to enable any student in the course to replicate the work.
Enhanced Assignment: This is a variation of the programming option. You may select any of our assignments from this semester and propose two extensions. You will be required to use one reference work, perform a comparison, and write a paper as described above for the programming option.

References

For your references, you may use books, web pages, or technical papers (available either on-line or through a library). Here are some rules regarding the selection of references:

Up to two different chapters from the same book can qualify as distinct references as long as they cover distinct material. They will not qualify if they cover material that is a cumulative sequence.
Wikipedia may not be counted as a reference. However, you are encouraged to use Wikipedia to gain an overview of a topic, and to find suggestions for appropriate references.
No more than two web pages may be counted as references. Technical papers that you find online do not count as web pages for this purpose. Please feel free to ask the instructor if any particular resource seems ambiguous in this regard.

Here are some suggestions for finding references for topics that may interest you:

Look at the Wikipedia article for a given topic, and follow the external links.
Search for online technical papers using Citeseer
Go to the library.
Visit web pages of research groups that study a given topic.

Timetable

Stage	Deadline
Project proposal (1-2 pages)	11/7, 1:15 pm
Revised proposal	11/16, 1:15 pm
Progress report	11/28, 1:15 pm
Final project due	12/7, 2:00 pm

Project proposal

In your proposal, describe the project you envision. State the number of references you intend to read and the number of implementations you plan to complete. After you turn in your proposal, I will supply you with comments by the next class period. You will then have until the following class period to revise your proposal to take into account my comments.

Progress report

At this point, you will need to have completed at least one implementation (for implementation projects) and you will need to have selected all of your reference works. If progress is unsatisfactory or some of the references need to be replaced, we can alter the proposal at this time. Your progress report is to be presented orally in class on Tuesday, November 28. It should be composed in PowerPoint or in an equivalent format. It should consist of five slides as follows:

Title slide
Project Goals
Technical Background
Progress to Date
- References selected
- Implementation completed
Plan for project completion

Final product

You will write a paper as described above. You should have at least one page of your paper dedicated to describing each of your references. You should also have an introduction and a conclusion. If you did any implementation, you will need to describe that in the paper as well.

During the finals period for the course (2-5 pm 12/7), you will give a 15 minute oral presentation about your project. Include a discussion of each reference as well as a discussion of the results of your implementations. Your presentation should be formal; PowerPoint or the like should be employed. You may use no fewer than five and no more than ten slides in your presentation. The title slide is not counted in this total.

Grading criteria

Separate grades will be awarded for the revised proposal, progress report, final paper, and oral presentation. The final paper and oral presentation will each be 80 points, and the proposal and progress report will each be 40 points, for a total of 240 points.

Proposal grade: An "A" proposal will include a good summary of what you intend to do and a realistic timetable for doing it. It will also incorporate revisions reflecting any comments I make. Lower grades will result from imperfections in the above criteria.

Progress report grade: An "A" progress report will honestly discuss the relationship between the timetable and your current progress. If any references have not been selected or no implementation has been attempted, the grade may be lower.

Oral presentation grade: An "A" presentation will be well-organized and convey an overview of your work without dwelling too much on the details. It will also require reasonable answers to any questions you may receive, either from the instructor or other students.

Final paper grade: An "A" final paper will clearly present the results of your research according to the requirements given above. The degree to which the work you proposed has been completed is critical. The quality of your implementation will also contribute to this grade.