Hello: I received an interesting note from a gentlemen today asking an interesting question. Usually folks email me asking about what classes they should take in order to strengthen their AI knowledge; this email asked what school would be a good one for him to learn the basics of good AI at? I realized I didn''t have a good answer as I honestly don''t know what schools out there do this kind of thing better, so I''m putting the question out to the group. What are good schools that you would recommend where somebody could learn about AI? It doesn''t necessarily have to be game-oriented though that would help. Thanks all in advance. I look forward to seeing what folks recommend. Ferretman
ferretman@gameai.com www.gameai.com From the High Mountains of Colorado

Carnegie Mellon University aka CMU

I plan to pursue my PhD there someday, if they''ll accept me.

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Kami no Itte ga ore ni zettai naru!

MIT is another obvious answer for AI research, in that they are the home of the AI Lab, which always has some interesting research going on. However, I suppose it''s important to note that most of the learning going on there is going to be for graduate level students while the undergrads can only be little more than gofers.

I''m more curious whether or not there really is any difference in the AI skills one can learn if they attend any school with a strong CS department. Disregarding specific professors you can learn from, the basic curriculum will be more or less the same. This is not a statement from personal experience, so I could be wrong, but it is based on looking at the course offerings for a bunch of different schools during the college application process. What with all the various fields one has to study to get a computer science B.S., there appears to be only so much depth one can explore in AI.

Anyone else have some real experience to contribute here?

Uni. Cali. Irivine had a good program. They offer a specialisation in it, and it is considered one of the schools strong points in CS.

edit:
By the way, I am preparing to enter my junior year ( when I get to choose my specialisation ) at UCI and am torn between graphics and AI. Such a difficult decision.

[edited by - lucinpub on August 8, 2002 3:51:52 AM]

I''d recommend universities in the Netherlands. We have several uni''s that offer complete Majors in AI.

The best one is the UVA in Amsterdam (guess where I''ll be going next year? :D ). They don''t focus on the "computer" direction though. Don''t expect to learn much programming at all. Might be even better when you take a minor in CS.

There are many schools that offer AI subjects, although few that offer complete streams of study in it. To be honest though, it really depends on what the person wants to do with what they learn. If it''s to go on to post-graduate studies, then it''s largely irrelevant what AI they do as an undergraduate. Mathematics would be a better foundation. If they want to get into the games industry, then learning good coding skills and some basic AI algorithms (which they''ll get in almost any CS department) would propbably be enough for an entry level position. If you want to work in industry as an AI researcher, then you''d better get a Masters or PhD.

Just my $0.02 worth.

Timkin

MIT and UC Berkeley have the top two CS schools and they both offer courses in AI

quote:

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Original post by Timkin
If it''s to go on to post-graduate studies, then it''s largely irrelevant what AI they do as an undergraduate. Mathematics would be a better foundation.

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I''m happy to hear that. I''m beginning my Bs.c in September in maths-physics, and I was afraid this might prevent me from doing post-graduate studies in AI. You think they would let me do it, even if I have no formal education in computer science?

Cédric

Definitely cedricl! I know of many prominant AI researchers whose background is in mathematics or theoretical physics.

I for one have B.Sc with honours in applied mathematics (and majors in physics and philosophy)... and I went into AI from there and have done very well. I highly recommend doing some Bayesian probabilities in maths. Statistical mechanics and quantum mechanics are really useful as well. Other than that, make sure you get a good grounding in differential calculus, pde's, ode's and just general math stuff. That will definitely help your physics! They didn't teach maths very well in my physics department, so that's why I defected to maths after getting a double major in physics/philosophy... did more maths so I could get into an Honours year and went from there into CompSci!

Oh, some geometrical methods would be good too. All of these skills will put you in good stead when tackling AI, although many AI researchers don't have them and often struggle when they see hard core maths (like my supervisor, who still doesn't understand 80% of my thesis)!

As for UC Berkeley... I can highly recommend it... I know a couple of postgrads who have come out of there... and Stuart Russell is a really nice guy... as are people like Michael Jordan (no, not THAT MJ, the ML MJ!). 'Tis a nice campus too!

Cheers,

Timkin

[edited by - Timkin on August 9, 2002 1:01:34 AM]

Thanks for the tips! Unfortunately, there''s not much choice in my program (joint-honours in maths-phys, in 3 years), but I''ll keep your comments in mind!

Cédric (not cedricl)