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Instructor: Mark LeBlanc Mark's Web Page -- Email Office: Science Center B103 Office Hours: by appt. or     Mon 9:30-10:30, 3:30-4:30     Tue 2-4   Wed 3:30-4:30     Fri 9:30-10:30     set time via email Phone: 286-3970 Class Meeting Times:     Mon 12:30-1:50pm, GIS Lab B325     Wed 12:30-1:50pm, CS Lab A118b " ... then (the algorithms of today) will become 'simple' problems and a new generation of challenges, which we can now only barely imagine, will take their place on the frontier of what it is possible to do with computers." Aho and Ullman, Foundations of Computer Science, p95. Texts: Moths to the Flame -- the seductions of computer technology by Gregory J.E. Rawlins. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 1996. Required. An excellent introduction to the exciting and yet scary new world with computing. In eight essays, Rawlins leads us to explore privacy, virtual reality, publishing and networks as well as social issues such as warfare, jobs, and computer catastrophes. Rawlins sets the computing context for a future world with intelligent agents. The Future of Life by E.O. Wilson. Knopf Publication, New York, 2002. Neuromancer by William Gibson. An Ace Book, Berkley Publishing Group, New York, NY, 1994 (hardcover) or reissue paperback edition (July 10, 2000). Required. "It was inevitable that the late twentieth century would eventually produce a literary form that linked high technology to the punk esthetic, artificial intelligence with the Sex Pistols, it's equally true that until Neuromancer it hadn't been done before Š. and nobody has done it since." (back jacket of hardcopy). Selected readings from: Software Agents by Jeffrey M. Bradshaw (Ed). MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 1997. We'll cover a series of four essays by Maes, Norman, Negroponte and the Microsoft Research Group that ask: How will intelligent agents interact with users? How will they communicate with each other? What are the technical requirements of agents? What kinds of agents have been implemented to date, and what does the future hold? computers Ltd. -- what they really can't do by David Harel. Oxford University Press, 2000. "Typically when people have difficulties bending computers to their will, their excuses fall into three categories: insufficient money, insufficient time, and insufficient brains.... However, for the most part, this book is not about these kinds of hardships. It concentrates on bad news that is proven, lasting and robust, concerning problems that computers are simply not able to solve, regardless of our hardware, software, talents or patience." (from the Preamble). Defending America -- The Case for Limited National Missile Defense by James M. Lindsay and Michael E. O'Hanlon. Brookings Institute Press, 2001, Ch. 1. p1-28. And many other readings. See the full bibliography. Introduction: Your Intelligent Agent It's 9 p.m. on a spring night in the year 2008 and you've just come home from work. Your home has ordered a pizza for you because it is Thursday and your caloric intake for the week is under your goal. Your bedroom closet has verified your outfit is ready for tomorrow and purchased a new pair of shoes over the Internet. Meanwhile, there were 173 messages waiting for you but your intelligent agent determines that only three require your immediate attention. This scenario reveals some of the details we will leave to machines to decide for us in the future. In particular, your intelligent agent will be programmed to make decisions on your behalf in areas of health, wealth and stealth. Each of these areas, however, generates a number of original and difficult questions that should get our attention now: What are the positive aspects of delegating decisions to automatons? What are the negative aspects? How might intelligent agents cooperate and share information and to what extent is this desirable or ethical? What are the privacy implications of such a world? For example, your doctor's agent has notified your agent that a section of your DNA contains a unique function and therefore you are a potential donor for dying patients. How widely should this information about you be available? Just how reliable and rational are programmed agents and what are the types of errors that occur in computer programs? What are the limits of computer programs (software), and perhaps as important, what criteria should we use in order to decide when a machine should or should not be allowed to make decisions for us? In this course, we will address these difficult questions and more. Work will include learning how to design and program your own "intelligent" web space. No previous computer programming experience is needed. This course is designed for everyone because some aspect of intelligent agents will affect everyone in the future. Goals of this First Year Seminar: This seminar is an opportunity for you to foster a new identity, that is, the identity of you as a scholar. The semester of work associated with this course includes reading, study, writing, discussion, oral presentations, and computing. Did I mention computing? Our goals include: (1) sharpening your skills in marshalling evidence (2) including gaining confidence in your use of the library and reference librarians; (3) an increased confidence in asking and responding to difficult questions, and (4) achieving new successes when expressing yourself in multiple voices (e.g., a report to your boss vs. writing creatively) and mediums (e.g., hardcopy paper vs. the web). (5) And finally, timely uses of the computer are infused throughout the semester with the goal that you will reach new levels of information and computing competencies. Working on these goals is to practice the stuff of scholarship. Confident presentations, creative and professional writing, an ability to solve hard problems with computing, including writing software when what you want is not out there: learn to do these well, practice, start over, study again, take them with you. In sports, it takes patience and hard work to make a powerful move. Likewise in scholarship, it will take patience and hard work for you to "make a powerful move." Curriculum: This course presents you with a study of some of the tough issues in modern computing as well as expose you to a suite of computing skills that are needed by all college students in this new century. This seminar is an excellent introduction to computer science for those who might be interested in pursuing a minor or major in computer science at Wheaton. In many ways, this seminar challenges students with the sometimes subtle rigor of the discipline. It seems that everyone loves computers today, but the requirements for reliable and efficient use of software-driven agents go far beyond the glitz of the web. As always ... In computer science, if you are almost correct you are a liability. Fred Kollett (1941-1997), MathCS, Wheaton College, Norton, MA Your Grade: Things to do Grading Percents Frequency Labs 10% overall most Wednesday's (see lab schedule) Written Questions/Answers 20% overall     Q1: Rawlins' Ch. 1 & 2 4% Mon., Sept. 09     Q2: Rawlins' Ch. 4 & 6 4% Mon., Sept. 16     Q3: Weinstein & Rawlins' Ch. 7 4% Mon., Sept. 25     Q4: Lindsay & Rawlins' Ch. 5 4% Mon., Sept. 30     Q5: Harel Ch. 7 4% Mon., Nov. 25 Homeworks 5% overall     Photoshop image 1% Mon., Sept. 16     Library Skills Sheet 1% Wed., Sept. 25     Your homepage v1.0 3% before October break 2 Papers 30% overall     #1: Endangered Species 15% Wed., Sept 25    ( Neuromancer Notes) 3% Wed., Oct. 02     #2: Neuromancer final paper 12% Mon., Oct. 21 your (intelligent) agent 35% overall     Agent Design v1.0 10% Wed., Nov. 13     Class Presentations Mon., Dec. 09     Class Presentations   Wed., Dec. 11     Agent Design v2.0 10% Wed., Dec. 11     Talk and Final Implementation 15% Wed., Dec. 11

Late Submissions: Due is due. Always turn in whatever you have on time. Something turned in on time is much better than not having it accepted because it is late. Late is not an option. (Good, glad we can all agree with this). Honor Code Revisited: It goes without saying that all submitted work will be the student's own, in keeping with the Wheaton Honor Code, unless the assignment has assigned groups. For labs, you may get "help" from fellow classmates, but remember that all completed work must be your own. Use discretion; don't ask your colleague for "the" answer or for a piece of software. However, I do encourage you to discuss the problem in general, such as the type of statements one might use. For homework, your answers and software must be your own from beginning to end. On your own .... (0)It is expected that you spend at least 4-5 hours on reading, study and preparation for every 90 minutes of lecture and discussion. (1)It is expected that you spend at least 6-10 hours per week on your current programming assignment for your web page. WARNING: Programmers typically underestimate the time it takes to complete a software project; 6-10 hours per week on your programming assignment may be one of those "underestimations." See the list of What's Due When ... LABS (0) The labs are a critical part of the course. In a way, it is your time to "hack" and show that you can work hard on the problem at hand. Your labs will prepare you to further your work on your (intelligent) web page. You must be in lab to get credit for the session. If you happen to miss a lab you are strongly encouraged to do it on your own time, but please do not ask for credit. (1) In order to best grasp the material presented in the lab, I strongly suggest that you completely redo any labs that you find difficult. (Read that last sentence again, unless of course you've already reread it once). Your (Intelligent) AGENT Throughout the semester, you will be learning about networks, servers, HTML and JavaScript so you can build your own (intelligent) web space. Your grade will be broken across a number of homeworks and assignments, as well as a final evaluation of your creation(s). Homeworks A few homeworks are sprinkled in the semester. These are mostly to provide you with deadlines, practice with time management, produce (next) drafts, and a chance to take a lab one step further. PAPERS You will be assigned two papers. One will focus you on an endangered species and the other will encourage you to take a creative look at a (character, topic) pair where the character will be from Gibson's Neuromancer and the topic will be a science/medical/sci-fi issue). More details about the papers appear on the schedule and are shared in class. HELP I have listed my office hours on the syllabus. But you know I'm always near a keyboard so we can schedule a time to meet. Study, study, study and talk about it with me and others as often as you can. Please don't wait too long before you see me; a quick chat in my office can often clear things up. I'm here a lot...