CS 486
Introduction to Artificial Intelligence
Winter 2026
Topics
- Introduction to Artificial Intelligence
- Uninformed Search
- Informed Search
- Constraint Satisfaction
- Uncertainty
- Bayesian Networks
- Causal Inference
- Intro to ML and Decision Tree Learning
- Statistical Learning
- Neural Networks
- Deep Neural Networks
- Sequence modeling, HMMs
- RNNs, Attention and Transformers
- Markov Decision Processes
- Intro to Reinforcement Learning
- Deep Reinforcement Learning
- Policy Gradient and Monte Carlo Tree Search
- Model-based RL and RL from Human Feedback
- LLM Test-time Inference and Reasoning
- Game Theory
- Multi-agent RL
- Image Generation
Readings
- Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach
- Causality: Models, Reasoning and Inference
- Dive into Deep Learning
- Reinforcement Learning: An Introduction
- Deep Learning
- Introduction to Artificial Intelligence: Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach (3rd ed.) Chapt. 1 and 2
- Uninformed Search: Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach (3rd ed.) Sect. 3.1-3.4
- Informed Search: Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach (3rd ed.) Sec. 3.5, 3.6
- Constraint Satisfaction: Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach (3rd ed.) Sec 6.1-6.3
- Uncertainty: Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach (3rd ed.) Sect. 13.1-13.5
- Bayesian Networks: Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach (3rd ed.) Sections 14.1, 14.2, 14.4
- Causal Inference: Causality (2nd ed.) Chapter 1
- Intro to ML and Decision Tree Learning: Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach (3rd ed.) Sec 18.1-18.4
- Statistical Learning: Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach (3rd ed.) Sec 20.1-20.2
- Neural Networks: Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach (3rd ed.) Sec 18.7, Dive into Deep Learning Chapter 5
- Deep Neural Networks: Dive into Deep Learning Chapter 5
- Sequence modeling, HMMs: Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach (3rd ed.) Sec 15.1-15.3, 15.5
- RNNs, Attention and Transformers: Dive into Deep Learning Chapters 9, 11, Deep Learning Chapter 10
- Markov Decision Processes: Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach (3rd ed.) Sections 17.1-17.4, Reinforcement Learning: An Introduction (2nd ed.) Chapter 3 and Sections 4.1-4.2, Dive into Deep Learning Sections 17.1-17.2
- Intro to Reinforcement Learning: Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach (3rd ed.) Sections 21.1-21.3, Reinforcement Learning: An Introduction (2nd ed.) Sections 6.1-6.5, Dive into Deep Learning Section 17.3
- Deep Reinforcement Learning: Reinforcement Learning: An Introduction (2nd ed.) Sections 9.4, 9.7, Deep Learning Chapters 6, 7, 8
- Policy Gradient and Monte Carlo Tree Search: Reinforcement Learning: An Introduction (2nd ed.) Sections 8.11, 13.1-13.3
- Model-based RL and RL from Human Feedback: Reinforcement Learning: An Introduction (2nd ed.) Sections 8.1-8.2 Ouyang, Wu, Jiang, Wainwright, et al. (2022) Training language models to follow instructions with human feedback, NeurIPS.
- LLM Test-time Inference and Reasoning: Rafailov, Sharma, Mitchell, Ermon, Manning, Finn (2023) Direct Preference Optimization: Your Language Model is Secretly a Reward Model, NeurIPS. Rashid, Wu, Fan, Li, Kristiadi, Poupart (2025) Towards Cost-Effective Reward Guided Text Generation, ICML.
- Game Theory: Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach (3rd ed.) Section 17.5, Reinforcement Learning: An Introduction (2nd ed.) Sections 21.1-21.3
- Multi-agent RL: Caroline Claus and Craig Boutilier (1998) The Dynamics of Reinforcement Learning in Cooperative Multiagent Systems, AAAI. Michael Littman (1994) Markov games as a framework for multi-agent reinforcement learning, Machine learning proceedings. Junling Hu and Michael P. Wellman (2003) Nash Q-learning for General-Sum Stochastic Games, JMLR
- Image Generation: Steins (2022) Diffusion Models Clearly Explained Steins (2022) Stable Diffusion Clearly Explained Mohebbi, Abdulrahman, Miao, Poupart, Kothawade (2026) Image-POSER: Reflective RL for Multi-Expert Image Generation and Editing, arXiv.
2015
Topics
- Introduction
- Problem-solving
- Knowledge representation and reasoning
- Uncertain knowledge and reasoning
- Machine learning
- Communicating
Readings
- Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach
- Artificial Intelligence: Foundations of Computational Agents
Sources
- Course catalogue ↗2026–2027
- course_website ↗Winter 2026
- departmental_course_outline ↗2015
- Departmental typical outline and references; assignments and textbooks may vary by term. Source revision: Dec 18, 2015. Year refers to the departmental revision date, not a specific offering.