Bryn Mawr College
CMSC 373: Artificial Intelligence
Fall 2025
Course Materials
Prof. Deepak Kumar

General Information

Instructor(s)
Deepak Kumar
202 Park Science Building
526-7485
dkumar at brynmawr dot edu
https://cs.brynmawr.edu/~dkumar/

Lecture Hours: Mondays & Wednesdays from 10:10a to 11:30a
Office Hours: Mondays 2:40 to 4:00p and more TBA.
Lecture Room: Room 338 Park Science Building
Lab:

Laboratories

Texts & Software

Main Texts (Required)

  • [Buy] A Brief History of Artificial Intelligence, by Michael Wooldridge
    Flat Iron Books, 2021. Bookshop Price $21.00 (new), $15.25 (used)
  • [Buy] Artificial Intelligence: A Guide for Thinking Humans, by Melanie Mitchell
    Farrar, Strauss, and Giroux, 2019. Bookshop Price $15.00 (new), $10.50 (used)

Software

Syllabus

Course Description: Class Number: 2176
Survey of Artificial Intelligence (AI), the study of how to program computers to behave in ways normally attributed to “intelligence” when observed in humans. Topics include heuristic versus algorithmic programming; cognitive simulation versus machine intelligence; problem-solving; inference; natural language understanding; scene analysis; learning; decision-making. Topics are illustrated by programs from literature, programming projects in appropriate languages. Prerequisites: CMSC B151 or CMSC H106/107, and CMSC B231. Haverford: Natural Science (NA). Enrollment Limit: 24; Enrollment Criteria: Major/Minor/Concentration.

Topics (Ambitious/Tentative List)

What is AI
Turing Test
Symbolic versus Subsymbolic AI
Narrow versus AGI
ELIZA
Winograd Schemas
The Winters of AI
Perceptron
Planning/Problem Solving
SHRDLU
SHAKEY
STRIPS
Search Algorithms
Heuristics
Knowledge Representation & Reasoning
Logical Reasoning
Expert Systems
MYCIN
R1/XCON
DENDRAL
CYC
Knowledge Graphs
Commonsense Reasoning
Perceptrons
Neural Networks
Backpropagation
Deep Learning
Convolution Neural Networks
ImageNet
Bias in AI Systems
Robots
Reinforcement Learning
Deep Q-Learning
AlphaGo
Natural Language Understanding
Recurrent Neural Networks
Word2Vec
Watson
ChatGPT
Explanable AI
Neuro-Symbolic Systems
Are we there yet?


Lab Attendance: Attendance in Lab is optional, but will be required during specific weeks. Look for announcements below during the semester. Prof. Kumar will be available in the Lab during all Lab times throughout the semester.

Important Dates

September 3 First class meeting
October 1 Exam 1
November 10 Exam 2
December 8 Last class meeting
December 10 Exam 3

Creating a Welcoming Environment

All members of the Instruction Staff are dedicated to the cause of improving diversity, equity, and inclusion in the field of computing, and to supporting the wellness and mental health of our students.

Diversity and Inclusion

It is essential that all members of the course community – the instructor, TAs, and students – work together to create a supportive, inclusive environment that welcomes all students, regardless of their race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexuality, or socioeconomic status. All participants in this course deserve to and should expect to be treated with respect by other members of the community.

Class meetings, lab sessions, office hours, and group working time should be spaces where everyone feels welcome and included. In order to foster a welcoming environment, students of this course are expected to: exercise consideration and respect in their speech and actions; attempt collaboration and consideration, including listening to opposing perspectives and authentically and respectfully raising concerns, before conflict; refrain from demeaning, discriminatory, or harassing behavior and speech.

Wellness

Additionally, your mental health and wellness are of utmost importance to the course Instruction Staff, if not the College as a whole. All members of the instruction staff will be happy to chat or just to listen if you need someone to talk to, even if it’s not specifically about this course.

If you or someone you know is in distress and urgently needs to speak with someone, please do not hesitate to contact BMC Counseling Serices: 610-526-7360 (610-526-7778 nights and weekends). If you are uncomfortable reaching out to Counseling Services, any member of the Instruction Staff will be happy to contact them on your behalf.

We understand that student life can be extremely difficult, both mentally and emotionally. If you are living with mental health issues such as anxiety, depression, ADHD, or other conditions that may affect you this semester, you are encouraged to discuss these with the Instructor. Although the details are up to you to disclose, the Instruction Staff will do their best to support and accommodate you in order to ensure that you can succeed this course while staying healthy.

Accessibility

Bryn Mawr College is committed to providing equal access to students with a documented disability. Students needing academic accommodations for a disability must first speak with Access Services. Students can email accessservices@brynmawr.edu to request an appointment to begin this confidential process. If eligible for accommodations as per Access Services, students should schedule an appointment with the professor as early in the semester as possible to share their verification form and make appropriate arrangements. Please note that accommodations are not retroactive and require advance notice to implement. More information can be obtained at the Access Services website. (http://www.brynmawr.edu/access-services/)

Because some students with a disability may be eligible to record lectures - and it is state law in Pennsylvania that individuals are given advance notice that they may be recorded - professors also need to include the following statement in their syllabus:

Any student who has a disability-related need to record this class must first be found eligible to do so by Access Services and must share this eligibility with me, the instructor. Class members need to be aware that this class may be recorded.

Assignments

  1. Extra Credit Assignment (Due on Monday, November 3): Click here.
  2. Assignment#1 (Due in class on Wednesday, October 22): Click here for details.
  3. Assignment#2 (Due on Wednesday, October 29): Click here for details.
  4. Assignment#3 is posted (Due November 10): Click here for details.
  5. Assignment#4 is posted (Due December 3): Click here for details.

Lectures

Course Policies

Submission and Late Policy

No assignment will be accepted after it is past due.

No past work can be "made up" after it is due.

No regrade requests will be entertained one week after the graded work is returned in class.

Any extensions will be given only in the case of verifiable medical excuses or other such dire circumstances, if requested in advance and supported by your Academic Dean.

Communication

As you will discover, we are proponents of two-way communication and we welcome feedback during the semester about the course. We are available to answer student questions, listen to concerns, and talk about any course-related topic (or otherwise!). Come to office hours and labs! This helps us get to know you. You are welcome to stop by and chat. There are many more exciting topics to talk about that we won't have time to cover in-class.

Please stay in touch with, particularly if you feel stuck on a topic or project and can't figure out how to proceed. Often a quick e-mail, phone call or face-to-face conference can reveal solutions to problems and generate renewed creative and scholarly energy. It is essential that you begin assignments early, since we will be covering a variety of challenging topics in this course.

Grading

All graded work will receive a grade, 4.0, 3.7, 3.3, 3.0, 2.7, 2.3, 2.0, 1.7, 1.3, 1.0, or 0.0. At the end of the semester, final grades will be calculated as a weighted average of all grades according to the following weights:

Exams 65%
Exam 1 20%
Exam 2 20%
Exam 3 25%
Participation & Assignments 35%

Incomplete grades will be given only for verifiable medical illness or other such dire circumstances.

Study Groups

All submitted work should be solely your individual work. We encourage you to discuss the material and work together to understand it. Here are our thoughts on collaborating with other students:

If you have any questions as to what types of collaborations are allowed, please feel free to ask.

Created on August 13, 2025.