CS886 - AI and Philosophy - Fall 2017 - Prof. Robin Cohen

(Mondays 9-11am, DC2568)

This seminar-style course is ideally suited for graduate students who are
writing theses in Artificial Intelligence or who have a good background
in artificial intelligence. Other interested students are still welcome:
simply ask the instructor. The course will be limited to 14 students.
Any student is welcome to Audit the course and can request official Audit
status.

The course will be discussion-oriented. The aim is to enable students to
explore theories in philosophy at length, to then imagine applying these
theories to the design of a particular artificial intelligence model.
Each student will be required to present their selected philosophy theory
with the class, and to later present their proposed application of that
theory to artificial intelligence, ultimately leading to a completed
final project which is handed in just after our last class. An additional
exercise will involve working in small groups on the specific topic
of ethics for AI. Initial classes will serve to introduce the students
to the topic area, presenting examples of AI concepts which may benefit
from the application of philosophy theories.


Workload 
  Presentation of philosophy theory  10 (15 minutes)
  Handout on philosophy theory 10 (1 page, 2-sided, bullet form)
  Presentation of proposed solution (final project) 10 (15 minutes)
  Group project on ethics in AI 10 (8 pages)
   Group presentation 5 (15 minutes)
  Class participation 5
  Final individual project 50 (10 pages)

Schedule

Sep 11  Introduction to course
Sep 18  Exemplar cases of utility functions and norms
Sep 25  Ethics in AI: discussion; time for groups to meet
Oct 2   Presentation of ethics of AI solutions (projects due Oct 6)
Oct 16  Presentation of philosophy theories (4) (10 mins discussion on each)
Oct 23  Presentation of philosophy theories (4) (10 mins discussion on each)
Oct 30  Presentation of philosophy theories (4) (10 mins discussion on each)
Nov 6   Presentation of philosophy theories (2) (10 mins discussion on each);
        Guest Speaker
Nov 13  Presentation of projects (5) (5 mins discussion on each)
Nov 20  Presentation of projects (5) (5 mins discussion on each)
Nov 27  Presentation of projects (4) (5 mins discuss); Course wrap-up
Dec 4   Final course reflections; Final projects due (30 minute class)
        Hardcopy to be handed in and softcopy sent as well

Due Dates
  Group projects are due Oct 6