Leveraging the Singularity: Introducing AI to Liberal Arts Students
نویسندگان
چکیده
In recent years, the notion that computers and robots will attain superhuman levels of intelligence in the next few decades, ushering in a new “posthuman” era in evolutionary history, has gained widespread attention among technology enthusiasts, thanks in part to books such as Ray Kurzweil’s The Singularity Is Near. This paper describes an introductory-level AI course designed to examine this idea in an objective way by exploring the field of AI as it currently is, in addition to what it might become in the future. An important goal of the course is to place these ideas within the broader context of human and cosmic evolution. The course is aimed at undergraduate liberal arts students with no prior background in science or engineering.
منابع مشابه
Finding the "Right" Robot Competition: Targeting Non-Engineering Undergraduates
Robot competitions run the gamut from research-oriented challenges to K-12 contest aimed at basic problem-solving. For students and faculty at small liberal-arts colleges with limited resources, finding the right level of competition can be a difficult proposition. At Macalester College we have hosted a series of robot competitions, inviting nearby liberal-arts colleges to participate. Our goal...
متن کاملA New Approach To Computer Science in the Liberal Arts
In the following we make the case for a new course for introducing computer science in the liberal arts classroom. The course is related to breadthfirst computer science, but is aimed at developing a broad course suitable for non-majors to gain a comprehensive overview of computer science beyond its algorithmic and mathematic fundamentals. One of the aims of the libreral arts philosphy is to pr...
متن کاملWork in progress - Teaching engineering concepts to liberal arts students
Lafayette College, with strong programs in engineering and the liberal arts, requires sophomore students to enroll in a “VaST” (Values and Science/Technology) course. These courses incorporate approaches from the engineering viewpoint and ideas from the social sciences and humanities. As a result of taking a VaST course, students should be better able to see and understand engineering and scien...
متن کاملProviding a Technology Edge for Liberal Arts Students
Students’ employability has long been a challenging issue for many liberal arts colleges and universities. There has been widespread recognition recently that liberal arts students are highly valued as employees. But there is also a public perception that liberal arts students may not be well equipped to face the challenges of employment in the information age. This study is a collaborative eff...
متن کاملAn Interdisciplinary Course on Artificial Intelligence Designed for a Liberal Arts Curriculum*
This article introduces a course the author recently designed; and which was first taught in Fall 2006. The course provides an introduction to the field of artificial intelligence (AI) focused at non-majors as part of a liberal arts curriculum. The course provides an overview of the foundational science and philosophy at the heart of AI from an interdisciplinary perspective. The course largely ...
متن کامل