Grad School for AI

[darktubbly]

Hey y'all. Dark forces willing, I'm planning to go into a Masters program in CS in the Spring with a possible emphasis on Aritificial Intelligence. I say possible because I've never actually had research experience with AI -- I've just taken one class. I'm also really interested in human computer interaction and distributed system (both of which I've actually done research on). As you can see, I'm really not quite sure what area I want to focus on. Any tips for grad schools? GPA's in the 3.0-3.5 range and GRE's are pretty good. I'm a bit worried about the math required for AI...I've taken up to Calc II, which I did quite well in, and Advanced Algebra and Statistics (bleh, hated this one). Any tips/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Legendary]

Dr. Miles Bennett Dyson?
Just don't lead us to Skynet.
[/Nef]

 

[m2kewl]

just don't create cyberdyne systems or a terminator

 

[darktubbly]

Actually, I wanted to do AI to make something with unholy power who doesn't talk back.

 

[DaveSimmons]

University of Washington had some good learning / planning faculty when I was there is '93 (yeah a little bit dated info) -- ask gopunk what the faculty are like there this century

For AI, learn lisp. A numerical analysis undergrad class could be useful if you're interested in neural nets since NA goes into approximating functions. A formal logic class or two are also helpful.

 

[darktubbly]

Lisp...nnngg...don't suppose I could get by with Prolog, huh? Ah well. The only thing with UWash (I looked at it last Fall) is that it's incredibly expensive for international students (I'm from Polar Bear country) ... $40,000/year; meaning I'd have to grow an extra kidney and sell it on the black market. Anyone have any thoughts towards the University of Delaware? They're closeby and seem to have a good program.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Lisp...nnngg...don't suppose I could get by with Prolog, huh?

nope, but Prolog is big in Japan *

I'd suggest getting good at lisp before you get to grad school so you're not tying to catch up when you join some research project.





*cliche about rock stars not popular in the USA and Prolog was part of Japan's failed "fifth generation" project.

 

[mAdD INDIAN]

Are you from Canada? If not, look into UofWaterloo and UofToronto. Both have awesome resources for graduate studies (UofT especially) and I think they are doing something related to human interactions.

 

[fizmeister]

MIT has their famous AI lab.

Stanford and Harvard have great programs.

Rice has an exceptional program headed by a professor who was named in top 10 most brilliant scientists (for research) by Popular Science and top 100 innovators by MIT.

 

[cchen]

The top programs for AI would be at CMU, MIT, Stanford. The big name schools. since money is an issue, try finding a department that might pay for some of your tuition in return for you to do some research. btw, you def need to know lisp, as its one of the most common languages used for AI

 

[zerocool1]

Originally posted by: cchen
The top programs for AI would be at CMU, MIT, Stanford. The big name schools. since money is an issue, try finding a department that might pay for some of your tuition in return for you to do some research. btw, you def need to know lisp, as its one of the most common languages used for AI

or you could be get a fellowship

 

[darktubbly]

Thanks for all the posts so far guys...it's been quite helpful. I'm actually trying not to aim for the MIT, CMU, UWaterloo, etc., as I'm fairly certain my GPA isn't up to snuff. Any other suggestions (and..uh..pity fellowships) would be welcome.

 

[psianime]

Yes, please build us AT'ers some fem'bots so keep us company.

-psianime

 

[CanOWorms]

Here are the ranked schools for AI in CS according to US News:

1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2. Carnegie Mellon University (PA)
3. Stanford University (CA)
4. University of California?Berkeley
5. University of Texas?Austin
6. University of Massachusetts?Amherst
7. University of Pennsylvania
University of Washington
9. University of Illinois?Urbana-Champaign
10. University of Michigan?Ann Arbor
11. University of Maryland?College Park
12. Brown University (RI)
Georgia Institute of Technology
14. Cornell University (NY)
15. University of California?Los Angeles