CSE 352
Spring 2003
Stony Brook
Artificial Intelligence
Annie Liu
Project
Handout P
Mar. 27, 2003
Due Apr. 8 & May 7


An Artificial Intelligence System

Your task is to describe and demonstrate an aritificial intelligence system. Remember that the project is also to be done in pairs; if you didn't have a partner for previous assignments, you are encouraged to have one this time.

Your are asked to write a 2000-3000 word description of the system and prepare a 15-minute presentation. Follow the hints and requirements below.

Submission

In class on April 8: submit a one-page overview description (around 500 words) of the AI system you are investigating. Make sure to include relevant references (including URLs to the system).

By 4pm on May 7: submit a printout of you complete description of the system and slides of your presentation. Email cse352ATcsDOTsunysbDOTedu before that a .zip file that contains all your documents.

Printouts are preferably printed double sided and or 2 pages per sheet.

Grading

This project is worth 20% of the course grade. Exceptionally well-thought-out and well-written homeworks will receive appropriate extra credit. Partial solutions get partial credit.

You will receive extra credit if you describe good ways to improve the functionality, performance, or other aspects of the system and possibly implement some improvements.

Hints and Requirements

  1. Never start by writing such an AI system from scratch yourself! :) Instead, start by thinking what kind of systems you would like to see/have/learn/use and then search the Web for such systems. If the system you finally chose happens to be the same or related to the one you described in Assignment 1, note that at the end of your writeup.

  2. The system you pick should preferably involve uncertainty reasoning (for example involving probability) or learning (for example using neural networks). This is not required, but it will help you better understand the materials under discussion in class.

  3. The system you pick can be in any programming language running on any platform, as long as it is in a language that you know and on a platform that you can run. This is so that you can know some more interesting details than what is usually in the advertisement and so that you can run the system.

  4. Your 2000-3000 word description should have the following components:

    Everything in CS and AI should have "why" (why a system is relevant), "what" (what it does), "how" (how it does what it does). So, the first item above is like the "why", with very brief summaries of "what", "how", and other important aspects. The second and third items are like the "what" and "how", respectively. The last item is what is exciting. :)

    I am sure you could cut and paste a lot of things from the documentation of system you pick, but make sure you understand and distill them, and really try the system. You need to demonstrate that you know the actual system, not just the system documentation, both through your writing and your presentation.

  5. Your 15-minute presentation should have the same materials, but presented succinctly with summaries, highlights, pictures, etc. You may include a real demo of the system if it is possible, i.e., it can be set up and runs on the machine in the teaching room, and if it is appropriate, i.e., it shows the system better and shows your knowledge of the system better than the slides do.