Fall 2012
Class Times: Friday 11:00-2:00 pm Units: 3-0-9 Location: 46-3310 Instructors: Shimon Ullman and Tomaso Poggio (TA Alessandro Rudi) Office Hours: TBA Email Contact : sullman@mit.edu Previous Class: FALL 2011
Course description
The problem of intelligence – its nature, how it is produced by the brain and how it could be replicated in machines – is a deep and fundamental problem that cuts across multiple scientific disciplines. Philosophers have studied intelligence for centuries, but it is only in the last several decades that developments in a broad range of science and engineering fields have opened up a thriving "intelligence research" enterprise, making questions such as these approachable: How does the mind processes sensory information to produce intelligent behavior, and how can we design intelligent computer algorithms that behave similarly? What is the structure and form of human knowledge – how is it stored, represented and organized? How do human minds arise through processes of evolution, development and learning, and what are their roots in genetics? How does collective intelligence arise in social and economic systems? How are cognitive domains including language, perception, social cognition, planning and motor control combined and integrated? Are there common principles of learning, prediction, decision or planning that span across different domains?
The second iteration of this course will explore these issues with an approach that involves the integration of the fields of cognitive science, which studies the mind, neuroscience, which studies the brain, and computer science and artificial intelligence, which develop intelligent hardware and software. Each week, different faculty members will lecture on a research topic that relates to the problem of intelligence. This year speakers will complement last year's lectures. The class will also consist of readings, discussion, and individual or group projects.
Prerequisites
The course is open to all graduate students; undergraduates can take the course with instructor permission.
Grading
Grading will be based on participation and a final project.
Schedule
Date Title Instructor(s) Class 01 Fri 07 Sep Edward H. Adelson Class 02 Fri 14 Sep Leslie Kaelbling Fri 21 Sep No Class Class 03 Fri 28 Sep Vladimir Vapnik - Lorenzo Rosasco - Tomaso Poggio Class 04 Fri 05 Oct Lorenzo Rosasco - Tomaso Poggio Class 05 Fri 12 Oct Ruth Rosenholtz Class 06 Fri 19 Oct Pawan Sinha Class 07 Fri 26 Oct James DiCarlo Class 08 Fri 02 Nov Edward Boyden Class 09 Fri 9 Nov Robert Desimone Class 10 Fri 16 Nov Drazen Prelec Fri 23 Nov No Class Class 11 Fri 30 Nov Shimon Ullman Class 12 Fri 7 Dec Shimon Ullman - Tomaso Poggio