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CS 498, Section EA
Reasoning and Knowledge Representation
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Autumn 2005
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- June 17, 2005: Please note messages on the news group class.cs498ea.
- Aug 16, 2005: I updated the book list for the class. Please note the additional second book (below).
- Sep 22, 2005: The project-proposals due date is moved to October 11 (a week later than planned originally).
- The project-proposals due date is moved to October 18 (two weeks later than planned originally).
- The midterm is moved to October 20 (a week later than planned originally).
Lecture: 3 or 4 hours credit, TuTh 11:00-12:15PM, 1131 Siebel Center, CRN: 40109
Professor: Eyal Amir
- Office: Siebel 3314
- Phone: (217) 333-8756
- email: eyal@cs.uiuc.edu
- Office hours: Mon 8am-9am, Tue 3pm-4pm
Useful Information and Handouts
- Syllabus & Important Dates
- Handouts
- Frequently Asked Questions
Course Description
The course covers knowledge representation and reasoning algorithms in
artificial intelligence. On the knowledge representation side it mixes
logical and probabilistic knowledge, and discusses representations
that involve time, space, and beliefs about self and other agents'
knowledge. On the inference side it discusses inference and decision
making with logical languages, probabilistic systems, and dynamic
systems. It covers both exact and approximate techniques for
reasoning, and emphasizes applications of these techniques in vision,
robotics, virtual worlds, and others.
Prerequisites
- Familiarity with the basic concepts of logic and probability
theory is recommended.
- Knowledge of basic computer science principles and skills is required.
- Knowledge of basic artificial intelligence problems and principles (at the level of CS440) is recommended.
- Mathematical ability and the ability to understand and analyze fairly
complicated algorithms and data structures. (CS473 is sufficient but not necessary.)
- Some independence is recommended.
| Machinery: Tasks and Coursework |
The course will consist of lectures by the teacher, homeworks,
a mid-term, and a final exam. In addition, students may choose to
conduct a final project for additional credit.
Due dates and recommended projects and papers for presentation
are indicated in the syllabus.
Assignments (including homeworks and projects) must be handed in
during the class on the date indicated in the syllabus. Recognizing
that students may face unusual circumstances and require some
flexibility in the course of the quarter, each student will have a
total of seven free late (calendar) days to use as s/he sees
fit. Once these late days are exhausted, any paper or proposal turned
in late will be penalized at the rate of 20% per late day (or fraction
thereof). Under no circumstances will an assignment be accepted more
than a week after its due date. Late days are from noon to noon.
Late assignments should be turned in at the turn-in box outside my
office, or under my office door. You must write the time
and date of submission on the assignment. Alternatively, you can fax
it to the course secretary (see the fax number above) or email it to
eyal@cs.uiuc.edu.
The final grade for 3 credit points will be calculated using the following formula:
0.5*homeworks + 0.2*mid-term + 0.3*final
The final grade for 4 credit points will be calculated using the following formula:
0.35*homeworks + 0.15*mid-term + 0.25*final+0.25*project
Up to 3% extra credit may be awarded for class participation.
Final project
Students who choose to do a project will be expected to submit an
initial project proposal and a more detailed proposal (after the first
proposal was approved), according to the dates in the
syllabus. Projects may have an implementation emphasis, a theoretical
emphasis, or a combination (preferred, but not mandatory). I urge
students to propose their own projects, but if they cannot find ones
by themselves, then they may ask me for advice.
In either case, the students should expect to meet with the instructor
to present their initial proposal and their detailed
proposal. Projects will be done in groups around two topics: (a)
Semantic Web Services; (b) Mapping people in Siebel Center. In the
conclusion of the class the students will present their projects in a
special class presentation meeting, and will also submit a technical
paper describing the project (see syllabus for dates).
I strongly encourage students to come to office hours instead
of emailing questions to me. Also, as explained above, late
assignments should be turned in at the turn-in box outside my
office. You can also email these assignments to eyal@cs.uiuc.edu.
Please do not e-mail me with grading questions. If you want me to explain
why I took points off, you can talk to me after class
or during office hours. If you want a regrade, please write an
explanation and hand the assignment and the explanation to me
during office hours or after class.
Occasionally I may need to broadcast a message to entire class. I will do
so over the newsgroup for the class.
| Textbooks and Papers Information |
There are two required books for this class
Ronald Brachman and Hector Levesque,
Knowledge Representation and Reasoning, Morgan Kaufmann, 2004.
Robert G. Cowell, Steffen L. Lauritzen, A. Philip David, and David J. Spiegelhalter,
Probabilistic Networks and Expert Systems, Springer, 1999 (online version available (for pay)).
Optional readings include
Stuart Russell and Peter Norvig,
Artificial Intelligence, a Modern Approach, Prentice Hall, 2nd ed., 2003.
Judea Pearl,
Probabilistic Reasoning in Intelligent Systems, Morgan Kaufmann, 1988.
Raymond Reiter,
Knowledge in Action, MIT Press, 2001.
Ronald Fagin, Joseph Y. Halpern, Yoram Moses and Moshe Y. Vardi,
Reasoning about Knowledge, MIT Press, 1995.
Other reading materials will be distributed in class or linked from
the syllabus.