Artificial Intelligence – Week 1 Notes

1. Introduction to Artificial Intelligence (AI)

• AI is the study of intelligent agents—systems that perceive their environment and

take actions to achieve goals.

• Goals of AI:

o Build machines that think and act like humans.

o Create systems that behave rationally (i.e., make optimal decisions).

2. Approaches to AI

2.1 Acting Humanly: The Turing Test Approach

• Turing Test: Proposed by Alan Turing to evaluate machine intelligence.

• A machine is considered intelligent if it can mimic human conversation well enough

to fool a human judge.

• "Total Turing Test":

o Involves computer vision and speech recognition for perception.

o Requires robotics to interact with the physical world.

2.2 Thinking Humanly: Cognitive Modeling Approach

• AI should mimic human thought processes based on psychology and

neuroscience.

• Methods include:

o Cognitive Science Models – Simulating human problem-solving.

o Neural Networks – Inspired by the human brain’s functioning.

2.3 Thinking Rationally: The Laws of Thought Approach

• AI should follow principles of logic to reason correctly.

• Problems:

o Real-world decisions involve uncertainty and incomplete knowledge.

 o Logical reasoning alone is not always feasible.

2.4 Acting Rationally: The Rational Agent Approach

• Focuses on making the best possible decision rather than imitating humans.

• Rational agents act to maximize expected outcomes based on available

information.

• Used in machine learning, robotics, and automated systems.

3. Foundations of AI

AI is based on multiple disciplines:

• Mathematics – Probability, logic, and statistics.

• Psychology – Understanding human cognition.

• Computer Science – Algorithms and data structures.

• Linguistics – Language processing.

• Neuroscience – Brain-inspired models.

4. History of AI

• 1950s-70s (Early AI) – Focus on logic, problem-solving, and rule-based systems.

• 1980s-90s (Machine Learning Boom) – Introduction of expert systems and neural

networks.

• 2000s-Present (Modern AI) – Deep learning, data-driven approaches, and AI

applications in robotics, healthcare, and finance.

5. Applications of AI

• Natural Language Processing (NLP) – Chatbots, virtual assistants (e.g., Siri, Alexa).

• Computer Vision – Facial recognition, autonomous driving.

• Robotics – Industrial robots, smart assistants.

• Healthcare – AI diagnosis, drug discovery.

 • Finance – Fraud detection, stock market predictions.

6. AI Challenges & Future

• Ethical Issues – AI bias, job displacement, security risks.

• General AI vs. Narrow AI – Current AI is specialized, whereas General AI (like

human intelligence) is still a challenge.

• Explainability – Making AI decisions transparent and understandable.

Artificial Intelligence – Week 2 Notes

1.2 Foundations of AI

1.2.1 Philosophy

• Aristotle (384–322 BCE): Created rules of logical reasoning (syllogisms).

• Ramon Llull (1232–1315): Developed Ars Magna for logical reasoning.

• Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519): Designed (but did not create) a mechanical

calculator.

• Blaise Pascal (1642): Built the Pascaline, a mechanical calculator.

• Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679): Suggested reasoning is a form of computation.

• René Descartes (1596–1650): Proposed dualism, distinguishing mind from the

body.

• John Locke (1632–1704): Advocated empiricism, learning through sensory

experiences.

1.2.2 Mathematics

• Formal logic: Developed by ancient Greece, India, and China.

• First-order logic: Introduced by Gottlob Frege (1879).

• Probability theory: Introduced by Gerolamo Cardano (1501–1576) for gambling.

• Statistics: Advanced by Ronald Fisher (1922).

• Algorithms: Concept first introduced by Al-Khwarizmi (9th century).

 • Turing Machine (1936): Alan Turing developed the concept of computability.

• Complexity theory: Defined polynomial vs. exponential growth in the 1960s.

1.2.3 Economics

• Decision theory: Combines probability and utility theory.

• Game theory (1957): Developed by John von Neumann for multi-agent decision-
making.

• Markov Decision Processes (MDP): Bellman (1957) modeled sequential decision-

making.

• Satisficing: Simon (1978) suggested finding "good enough" solutions instead of

optimal ones.

1.2.4 Neuroscience

• Paul Broca (1824-1880): Identified Broca’s area (speech production).

• Santiago Ramón y Cajal (1852-1934): Discovered neurons as individual units.

• Hans Berger (1920s): Invented electroencephalograph (EEG).

• fMRI (1990s): Allowed imaging of brain activity.

• Optogenetics (1999-2007): Enabled neuron control using light.

1.2.5 Psychology

• Wilhelm Wundt (1879): Established experimental psychology.

• Behaviorism (1900s): Studied actions of animals.

• Cognitive Psychology (1943): Focused on mental processes.

• Human-Computer Interaction (HCI): Combines psychology and AI.

1.2.6 Computer Engineering

• First general-purpose computers: Colossus (WWII).

• First programmable computer (1941): Z-3 by Konrad Zuse.

• Modern computers: AI-specific hardware (GPUs, TPUs) developed in 2012.

• Quantum computing: Increasing AI efficiency.

1.2.7 Control Theory & Cybernetics

 • First self-regulating machine: Water clock by Ktesibios (250 BCE).

• Feedback systems: Steam engine governor (James Watt, 18th century).

• Cybernetics (1940s): Ashby developed homeostatic devices.

1.2.8 Linguistics

• Noam Chomsky (1950s): Criticized behaviorist language learning theories.

• AI and NLP: Machine learning applied to language processing.

1.3 History of AI

1.3.1 Inception (1943–1956)

• McCulloch & Pitts (1943): Modeled artificial neurons.

• Hebbian learning (1949): Strengthens neural connections.

• Turing Test (1950): Alan Turing’s proposal to test machine intelligence.

• Dartmouth Conference (1956): Official birth of AI.

1.3.2 Early Growth (1952–1969)

• General Problem Solver (GPS, 1956): Newell & Simon’s AI problem-solving model.

• Arthur Samuel (1956): Created self-learning checkers program.

• LISP (1958): First AI programming language by John McCarthy.

• First-order logic (1965): Developed by J.A. Robinson.

• Microworlds (1963-1970s): AI models for limited problems (e.g., block world,

chess-playing programs).

1.3.3 Challenges (1966–1973)

• AI faced issues due to limited hardware and overly ambitious goals.

• Herbert Simon (1957): Predicted a machine would win at chess in 10 years (took
40).

1.3.4 Expert Systems (1969–1986)

• MYCIN (1970s): Diagnosed blood infections better than junior doctors.

• R1 (1982): Saved $40 million per year in configuring new computer orders.

• Limitations: Expert systems couldn’t learn from experience.

1.3.5 Neural Networks (1986–Present)

• Backpropagation (1980s): Enabled better training of deep learning models.

1.3.6 Machine Learning & Probabilistic AI (1987–Present)

• Bayesian Networks (1988): Introduced probabilistic AI.

• UC Irvine ML datasets: Established AI benchmarks.

• Speech Recognition (1980s): Hidden Markov Models (HMMs) became dominant.

1.3.7 Big Data (2001–Present)

• Large datasets: Enabled improvements in AI accuracy (e.g., ImageNet for image

recognition).

• Commercial AI: Used in business intelligence, recommendation systems, and

social media.

1.3.8 Deep Learning (2011–Present)

• LeCun (1990s): Developed Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs).

• AlexNet (2013): Revolutionized image classification.

• Applications: Used in speech recognition, medical diagnosis, and gaming (e.g.,

AlphaGo, 2016).

1.4 The State of AI Today

• Robotic vehicles: Autonomous cars (DARPA challenge, 2005).

• Speech recognition: Automated systems (e.g., United Airlines booking).

• Game playing: Deep Blue (IBM) defeated world chess champion.

• Spam detection: AI filters billions of messages daily.

• Machine Translation: Google Translate processes billions of words per day.

• Healthcare: AI outperforms doctors in some diagnoses.

• Climate science: AI detects weather patterns.

1.5 Risks and Benefits of AI

• Weapons: Autonomous lethal systems.

• Surveillance: AI used for mass monitoring and persuasion.

 • Bias in AI: Machine learning models can reinforce societal biases.

• Job automation: AI may replace human workers, increasing inequality.

• Cybersecurity risks: AI can both protect and attack digital systems.

• Superintelligence risk: The challenge of controlling AI beyond human intelligence.

Why AI?

• Handles large, complex, and evolving datasets.

• Automates decision-making.

• Advances industries like healthcare, finance, robotics, and NLP.

Artificial Intelligence – Week 3 Notes

2.1 Agents and Environments

• Agent: Anything that perceives its environment via sensors and acts upon it using
actuators.

• Examples:

o Human agent: Eyes, ears (sensors); hands, legs, vocal tract (actuators).

o Robotic agent: Cameras, infrared sensors (sensors); motors (actuators).

o Software agent: Reads files, network packets (sensors); writes files, sends
packets (actuators).

Agent Percepts and Actions

• Percept: The input an agent receives at a given moment.

• Percept sequence: Complete history of what an agent has perceived.

• Agent function: Maps percept sequences to actions.

• Agent program: Implementation of the agent function in a physical system.

Example: Vacuum Cleaner Agent

• Percepts: Current location and dirt status.

• Actions: Move left, move right, suck dirt, do nothing.

• Simple strategy: If the square is dirty, clean it; otherwise, move to the next square.
2.2 Good Behavior: The Concept of Rationality

2.2.1 Performance Measures

• Defines success criteria for an agent.

• Examples for a vacuum cleaner agent:

o Noise level.

o Efficiency of cleaning.

o Power consumption.

2.2.2 Rationality

• A rational agent chooses actions that maximize expected performance.

• Depends on:

o Performance measure.

o Prior knowledge of the environment.

o Possible actions.

o Percept sequence.

2.2.3 Omniscience, Learning, and Autonomy

• Omniscience: Knowing actual outcomes in advance (impossible in reality).

• Rationality: Maximizes expected performance.

• Learning: Agents gather data to improve performance.

• Autonomy: Agents rely more on percepts and less on prior knowledge over time.

2.3 The Nature of Environments

2.3.1 Task Environment (PEAS)

• Performance measure

• Environment

• Actuators
 • Sensors

• Example: Automated Taxi

o Performance measure: Safety, speed, comfort, legality.

o Environment: Roads, traffic, pedestrians.

o Actuators: Steering, accelerator, brakes.

o Sensors: Cameras, GPS, speedometer.

2.3.2 Properties of Task Environments

1. Fully Observable vs. Partially Observable

o Fully observable: Agent has complete information (e.g., chess).

o Partially observable: Limited information due to sensor constraints (e.g.,

poker).

2. Single-Agent vs. Multi-Agent

o Single-agent: Solves problems alone (e.g., crossword puzzle).

o Multi-agent: Interacts with other agents (e.g., self-driving cars, chess).

3. Deterministic vs. Stochastic

o Deterministic: Outcome is predictable (e.g., tic-tac-toe).

o Stochastic: Outcome involves randomness (e.g., rolling dice).

4. Episodic vs. Sequential

o Episodic: Decisions don’t affect future states (e.g., spam filtering).

o Sequential: Current decisions impact future outcomes (e.g., chess, driving).

5. Static vs. Dynamic

o Static: Environment doesn’t change while agent is deciding (e.g., crossword

puzzles).

o Dynamic: Environment changes in real-time (e.g., self-driving cars).

6. Discrete vs. Continuous

o Discrete: Finite states and actions (e.g., chess).

o Continuous: Infinite states/actions (e.g., robot movement).

 7. Known vs. Unknown

o Known: Agent understands the rules (e.g., chess game rules).

o Unknown: Agent must learn rules through experience (e.g., new video game).

Hardest Task Environment

• Partially observable, multi-agent, stochastic, sequential, dynamic, continuous,

unknown.

• Example: Self-driving cars operating in real-world traffic.

Artificial Intelligence – Week 3 Notes (Part B)

2.4 The Structure of Agents

• Agent behavior: Actions performed after any given percept sequence.

• Agent = Architecture + Program

o Architecture: The physical computing device with sensors and actuators.

o Program: The implementation of the agent function.

Agent Function

• Mathematical function that maps percepts to actions.

• Implemented as the agent program.

• Workflow: Environment → Sensors → Agent Function → Actuators → Environment

2.4.1 Agent Programs

• Agent program: Takes current percept as input and returns an action.

• Agent function: May or may not use the entire percept history.

• Table-driven approach is impractical because:

o Chess requires 10¹⁰⁵ entries in a lookup table.

o The observable universe has fewer than 10⁸⁰ atoms.

o No physical agent can store or learn all required table entries.

• Key AI challenge: Writing small, efficient programs that generate rational behavior.
2.4.2 Types of Agents

1. Simple Reflex Agents

• Act based only on the current percept, ignoring percept history.

• Example: Vacuum cleaner agent cleans if current square is dirty.

• Condition-action rules: If condition is met, take action (e.g., braking when a car
ahead stops).

• Works well in fully observable environments.

2. Model-Based Reflex Agents

• Maintain an internal model of the world for partially observable environments.

• Example:

o Car braking: Uses previous camera images to detect red lights.

o Lane changing: Keeps track of nearby cars.

• World model: Knowledge of how the environment changes.

3. Goal-Based Agents

• Use goals to decide between possible actions.

• Example: A taxi at an intersection decides to turn left, right, or go straight based on

its destination.

• Combines goal information with percepts to choose the best action.

4. Utility-Based Agents

• Utility = quality of being useful.

• Goals alone may not be enough (e.g., multiple routes reach the destination, but
some are faster, safer, or cheaper).

• Utility function: Assigns a numeric value to each state to evaluate performance.

5. Learning Agents

• Learn from experience to improve performance over time.

• Components:
 o Learning Element (LE): Improves agent performance.

o Performance Element: Selects external actions.

o Critic: Provides feedback on agent’s performance.

o Problem Generator: Suggests new experiences for learning.

• Example: Reinforcement learning in AI systems.

2.4.7 How Agent Program Components Work

Atomic Representation

• Each state is indivisible with no internal structure.

• Example: Finding a driving route using a sequence of cities.

Factored Representation

• Splits a state into multiple variables/attributes.

• Example (Car driving):

o Gas level.

o GPS location.

o Oil warning light status.

o Toll expenses.

• Used in propositional logic, planning, Bayesian networks, and machine learning.

Structured Representation

• Views the world as objects and relationships, not just variables.

• Used in:

o Relational databases.

o First-order logic & probability models.

o Knowledge-based learning & natural language processing (NLP).

Summary
• Agent structure consists of architecture + program.

• Different types of agents exist: Reflex, Model-based, Goal-based, Utility-based,

Learning.

• AI uses different representations (atomic, factored, structured) for decision-

making.

• Learning agents improve autonomously, adapting to complex environments.