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Artificial Intelligence?

Hi there,

I wondered if I could get some computer science students views on the artificial intelligence modules on their course. Did you find them interesting? Is it a field that's expanding and has job opportunities? I have an offer for a joint degree in Computer Science and Artificial intelligence. Would I have worse prospects than a person just taking a single CS degree?

Thanks :biggrin:
Reply 1
Avatar for mailmerge
mailmerge
14
Original post by Just Josh
Hi there,

I wondered if I could get some computer science students views on the artificial intelligence modules on their course. Did you find them interesting? Is it a field that's expanding and has job opportunities? I have an offer for a joint degree in Computer Science and Artificial intelligence. Would I have worse prospects than a person just taking a single CS degree?

Thanks :biggrin:


I took an introductory course at York and didn't enjoy it at all. It didn't seem practical to me, since the focus was just on the theory (logic and reasoning). That's my experience with it, but like anything in CS, you have to go through the fundamentals before it gets interesting.

I've also taken part of a Building Intelligent Systems class, and there are definitely very relevant things you can do with there (especially for retail software and websites). I didn't follow through with it because it's not relevant to my other interests, but there definitely are neat things you can do with it.

AI is such a broad and difficult to define field that pretty much everything stems from it. All the stuff that inspires me about CS comes from AI these days -- computer vision, how the Kinect works, robotics, etc. It's definitely a growing one, even if it's under the guise of computer vision or whatever trending buzzword (data mining). Can't say much about relevant jobs in the sector though.

If it seems like something you might enjoy then go for it -- it probably won't be difficult to switch to the single honours at any point later. I definitely don't think joint honours will limit your employment in any way either.
Original post by Just Josh
Hi there,

I wondered if I could get some computer science students views on the artificial intelligence modules on their course. Did you find them interesting? Is it a field that's expanding and has job opportunities? I have an offer for a joint degree in Computer Science and Artificial intelligence. Would I have worse prospects than a person just taking a single CS degree?

Thanks :biggrin:


I've never heard of joint honors Artificial Intelligence though I may be wrong. The course is probably just Computer Science but the modules on the second and third years have compulsory artificial modules you have to take instead of other modules with one big A.I project. It is like that with most Computer Science courses, Computer Science and networks/game design/maths etc.

I was thinking of doing the same but I'm not sure what I want I would want to focus on so I'm just going to go for normal Computer Science since it gives you a broad of modules you can choose and not focusing on compulsory ones, I'd like to pick my modules also.

As for artificial intelligence I heard it's a great route to go down if you're interested in research work or a research degree later on plus if you enjoy A.I it's great lol

Worst prospects towards employers I would not think so since a degree is a degree, but if you feel A.I is the right route for you then go for it. But if you're just not sure what you want to do later on I would suggest just a plain CS course since it will have a variety of modules you can take and then you can pick one you enjoy studying and focus building knowledge on that one part.
Reply 3
Avatar for GuyUK
GuyUK
12
Original post by ifstatement
I've never heard of joint honors Artificial Intelligence though I may be wrong. The course is probably just Computer Science but the modules on the second and third years have compulsory artificial modules you have to take instead of other modules with one big A.I project. It is like that with most Computer Science courses, Computer Science and networks/game design/maths etc.

I was thinking of doing the same but I'm not sure what I want I would want to focus on so I'm just going to go for normal Computer Science since it gives you a broad of modules you can choose and not focusing on compulsory ones, I'd like to pick my modules also.

As for artificial intelligence I heard it's a great route to go down if you're interested in research work or a research degree later on plus if you enjoy A.I it's great lol

Worst prospects towards employers I would not think so since a degree is a degree, but if you feel A.I is the right route for you then go for it. But if you're just not sure what you want to do later on I would suggest just a plain CS course since it will have a variety of modules you can take and then you can pick one you enjoy studying and focus building knowledge on that one part.


Some good points there.

There are Universities which don't offer a MEng/MSci plain CS course, only a BEng/BSc plain CS course. So if you want to do a 4 year degree at a certain University, you may be forced to do the plain CS with AI or some other variation. There are also many Universities which don't offer MEng/MSci courses just BEng/BSc courses, so if your just interested in doing a BEng/BSc course, then you could pick the plain CS course. But personally I think a MEng/MSci is a better alternative to the BEng/BSc, if you don't have to pay tuition fees.
(edited 12 years ago)
Reply 4
Avatar for FinalMH
FinalMH
16
Original post by Just Josh
Hi there,

I wondered if I could get some computer science students views on the artificial intelligence modules on their course. Did you find them interesting? Is it a field that's expanding and has job opportunities? I have an offer for a joint degree in Computer Science and Artificial intelligence. Would I have worse prospects than a person just taking a single CS degree?

Thanks :biggrin:


I personally like the module, first year students do introduction to Artificial intelligence and then more modules in later years. However, if you love AI then you probable will be great at the subject. Some people do struggle with the subject because your require that way of thinking. If you want a book to read about A.I than this one is highly recommend.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0132071487/ref=s9_simh_gw_p14_d1_g14_i1?pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=center-3&pf_rd_r=176ZWRYCCY7TTWF0R0ZC&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=467128473&pf_rd_i=468294
go for it man, could be a fascinating topic to study.
Reply 6
Avatar for tooosh
tooosh
16
Original post by FinalMH
King's offer it. lol


It's not a joint honours, CS and IS/AI are too similar and fundamentally rooted in the same concepts so it's run with a major/minor structure. Just me being pedantic :tongue:
Most CS with AI courses will be single honours.
Reply 7
Avatar for Tut.exe
Tut.exe
14
AI is relatively new, you might wanna check agents and multiagent systems as well. theyre quite interesting.

o.O someone negged me and didnt even post an argument about it... :/
(edited 12 years ago)
Reply 8
Avatar for FinalMH
FinalMH
16
Original post by tooosh
It's not a joint honours, CS and IS/AI are too similar and fundamentally rooted in the same concepts so it's run with a major/minor structure. Just me being pedantic :tongue:
Most CS with AI courses will be single honours.


:laugh: I made mistake it was another course. They don't offer it :smile: ha
Reply 9
Avatar for spyka
spyka
6
I did one AI unit at Soton which seemed to basically be probability theory
Reply 10
Avatar for Just Josh
Just Josh
OP
14
Original post by mailmerge
I took an introductory course at York and didn't enjoy it at all. It didn't seem practical to me, since the focus was just on the theory (logic and reasoning). That's my experience with it, but like anything in CS, you have to go through the fundamentals before it gets interesting.

I've also taken part of a Building Intelligent Systems class, and there are definitely very relevant things you can do with there (especially for retail software and websites). I didn't follow through with it because it's not relevant to my other interests, but there definitely are neat things you can do with it.

AI is such a broad and difficult to define field that pretty much everything stems from it. All the stuff that inspires me about CS comes from AI these days -- [URL="http://vimeo.com/28962540"]computer vision
, how the Kinect works, robotics, etc. It's definitely a growing one, even if it's under the guise of computer vision or whatever trending buzzword (data mining). Can't say much about relevant jobs in the sector though.

If it seems like something you might enjoy then go for it -- it probably won't be difficult to switch to the single honours at any point later. I definitely don't think joint honours will limit your employment in any way either.

Thanks for the detailed and thoughtful response. That kind of stuff (robotics, kinect, human-computer interaction) is the stuff which interests me most about the subject so it sounds like something that would be good for me. Can I ask how much of a background in artificial intelligence you had before taking the module and CS course? For example, i'm not taking philosophy, biology or psychology A level. Would not having a background in the subject come at a cost?


Original post by ifstatement
I've never heard of joint honors Artificial Intelligence though I may be wrong. The course is probably just Computer Science but the modules on the second and third years have compulsory artificial modules you have to take instead of other modules with one big A.I project. It is like that with most Computer Science courses, Computer Science and networks/game design/maths etc.

I was thinking of doing the same but I'm not sure what I want I would want to focus on so I'm just going to go for normal Computer Science since it gives you a broad of modules you can choose and not focusing on compulsory ones, I'd like to pick my modules also.

As for artificial intelligence I heard it's a great route to go down if you're interested in research work or a research degree later on plus if you enjoy A.I it's great lol

Worst prospects towards employers I would not think so since a degree is a degree, but if you feel A.I is the right route for you then go for it. But if you're just not sure what you want to do later on I would suggest just a plain CS course since it will have a variety of modules you can take and then you can pick one you enjoy studying and focus building knowledge on that one part.


Thanks for the detailed reponse! Wow i got some awesome responses to this thread. I think it's a joint honours, but it may be a single honors just with an 'and' in the middle. Anyway, your thinking was similar to my thinking, I am wondering whether to change to just core CS. But i guess i can always start the AI course and switch if it's really that bad! Now the ordeal with kent is over, mind me asking where your thinking of?

Original post by Tut.exe
AI is relatively new, you might wanna check agents and multiagent systems as well. theyre quite interesting.

o.O someone negged me and didnt even post an argument about it... :/


Repped you to make it up! thanks for the pointer
Original post by Just Josh
Thanks for the detailed and thoughtful response. That kind of stuff (robotics, kinect, human-computer interaction) is the stuff which interests me most about the subject so it sounds like something that would be good for me. Can I ask how much of a background in artificial intelligence you had before taking the module and CS course? For example, i'm not taking philosophy, biology or psychology A level. Would not having a background in the subject come at a cost?


Essentially none (covered Prolog at A-level computing previously, but had forgotten it since). You need the background in maths to understand all of the logic notation and a little bit of Bayes -- that was material in the first year.

The biology/psychology side of things is mostly just tricks to let you make shortcuts (eg humans don't notice [x] when it's moving really quickly). I think any taught material is going to just depend on your computing background... that probably changes if you have to do a novel project/dissertation.

A lot of AI courses are based on the Russell and Norvig book recommended above. I'm not sure if their online course from last year is still available, but might help give you a feel for things.
Original post by Just Josh
Now the ordeal with kent is over, mind me asking where your thinking of?


Torn between Lancaster and Kings, both great universities. Wanted to really have a Kent offer but I must have sent 2 emails by now as to why my applications been unsucessful with the right grades and what not. Supposed to get at least some feedback but not even a single reply, the bastards :tongue:
Reply 13
Avatar for FinalMH
FinalMH
16
Original post by ifstatement
Torn between Lancaster and Kings, both great universities. Wanted to really have a Kent offer but I must have sent 2 emails by now as to why my applications been unsucessful with the right grades and what not. Supposed to get at least some feedback but not even a single reply, the bastards :tongue:


:tongue: i had that choice last year :tongue:

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