The following activities may be performed before arriving on campus. We will follow the Cawsey text The Essence of Artificial Intelligence during the week and supplement it with the following material. It will be to your advantage to at least sketch out answers to these problems beforehand.

Unit I Origin of Information and Intelligence

A. Content Description

In order to understand artificial intelligence, concepts related to the nature and essence of created (“natural”) intelligence must be understood. A research goal of artificial intelligence is to create machines which possess human intelligence; therefore, the fundamental questions of human intelligence must be answered before questions in artificial intelligence can be tackled. Humans are intelligent because they possess an “image” of their Creator. The awesome intelligence of the Creator is dimly reflected in human beings.

B. Learning Activities

1. Read the book of Proverbs in any modern translation of the Bible.  Computer science deals with the concepts of data (raw facts input to the system) and information (useful, processed data used by humans to make decisions). Data and information can be related to the Biblical concepts of knowledge and wisdom. Create a document which shows how the computer science and Biblical concepts are related. In the document, respond to the claim, “Information can only come from intelligence.” Does the Biblical writer of Proverbs argue that information could arise spontaneously in the absence of intelligence? or, does the writer posit the requirement of intelligence to create information? (see especially chapter 8)

Maximum length of document: 3 pages.  {Assignment 1 - 25 points}

3. Thoroughly read The Mind of the Maker. Create a document which summarizes Sayers’ claims regarding the “creative mind.” In addition, update her analogies for creation from an artist/writer to a computer scientist. That is, express the 3-part creative process in the framework of computer science.

Maximum length of document: 5 pages.  {Assignment 2 - 25 points}
 

Unit II Current State-of-the-Art, Conceptual and Theoretical

A. Content Description

This unit will analyze the current “state-of-the-art” in artificial intelligence from an academic perspective, emphasizing concepts and theory.

B. Learning Activities

1. Thoroughly read chapter 10 in Computer Science: An Overview.  Answer any one problem from each of the following groups of the Chapter Review problems on pages 391ff:

a. problems 1 - 6
b. problems 7 - 13
c. problems 14 - 18
d. problems 25 - 27
e. problems 28 - 29

Submit the five answers together.  {Assignment 3: a - e  –  5 points each}

2. Thoroughly read chapter 15 in Great Ideas in Computer Science.  Answer any one problem from the specified list on the following pages:

a. problems 1 - 2, page 455
b. problems 1 - 5, page 462
c. problems 1 - 4, page 476
d. problems 1 - 2, page 487
e. problems 1 - 5, page 493
f. problems 1 - 2, page 502

Submit the six answers together.  {Assignment 4: a - f  –  5 points each}

3. Read the following chapters in The New Turing Omnibus: 6, 19, 36, 58, and 64.  Answer any one problem from the end of each assigned chapter.

Submit the five answers together. {Assignment 5: a - e – 5 points each}