Honors 360
Sections 005 & 006
| Office: Horizon Hall 4163 Office Hours: T & Th 1:30 – 2:45 Email dtaciuch |
The quest for artificial intelligence has led to many types of “narrow AI,” most of which are better than humans at their specific skills (from playing games to predicting the structure of a protein). But the goal for much AI research is Artificial General Intelligence, or AGI. A narrow AI can drive a car, for example, but it can’t play chess or answer a trivia question. An AGI could. Much of the in AI scholarship has been on the risks of AI development: misaligned values, ethical dilemmas, economic concerns. But the rewards are immense: longer, healthier lives, more stable governments, more equitable societies, a cleaner environment, and the exploration of our universe.
This course will begin with Alan Turing's foundational essay "Computing Machinery and Intelligence," in which he asks "Can machines think?" Turing's "imitation game" is the now well-known Turing test, which we will return to several times in the course. The focus of the course will be Ray Kurzweil's techno-optimistic view of the Singularity, as well as counter views on important topics such as safety, fairness, as well as more philosophical topics such as the the nature of intelligence, consciousness, and the self.
What does it mean to be a human intelligence in a world of AI?
Course Goals
Honors 360 is a Mason Core Apex course.
Mason Apex courses or in some cases, sequence of courses, will provide Mason students with a high-impact culminating experience, requiring students to utilize critical thinking skills and preparing them for life-long learning. Students are challenged to draw connections across their Mason undergraduate academic experience. Mason Apex courses provide students opportunities to apply and communicate their knowledge, and involve integrative, applied or experiential projects.
Learning Outcomes and Assignments
| Course Outcome | Course Related Assignments/Activities |
| Function effectively on a team whose members together provide leadership, create a collaborative and inclusive environment, establish goals, plan tasks, and meet objectives (adapted from Engineering) | Group discussion panels |
| Integrate skills, abilities, theories, or methodologies gained across a Mason student’s undergraduate education to explore complex issues in original ways. (Mason APEX - New outcome) | Preliminary essay |
| Communicate effectively the results of the student’s work with awareness of audience, purpose, and context using an appropriate modality (for example: written, oral, visual, material, embodied, multimodal). (Mason Apex - revised) | Individual topic essays |
You will be required to read, evaluate, analyze, and synthesize material from several disciplines and present your analysis in essays and class discussions.
Texts
The books are available from the GMU bookstore as ebooks or physical books.
The bookstore ebooks appear to be locked-down rentals, permitting limited copying and requiring a special reader app. I recommend the physical books or a standard ebook edition (Kindle, etc). The Schneider text is available as an unrestricted ebook from the GMU library.
Books:
Kurzweil, The Singularity is Nearer: When We Merge with AI
Schneider,
Artificial You: AI and the Future of Your Mind (available as an unrestricted ebook from the GMU library).
PDFs (available on BlackBoard):
Turing ,"Computing Machinery and Intelligence"
Online Readings throughout the semester are on the course schedule and will be posted on BlackBoard; these are likely to change over the course of the semester. I will also add them to the course Zotero library.
Course Site:
We will use Blackboard for online discussions and essay submissions.
Assignments:
Essay 1: AI and You (15%)
In this preliminary essay, explain your thoughts on AI. Can a machine be intelligent? What is intelligence anyway?
How does machine intelligence (AI) differ from human intelligence?How do you engage with AI, including Generative AI? Do you find it useful? Distracting? Over-hyped? Dangerous? Why?
Give an example of how you've used AI recently and discuss how you think you might use it in your future career.
This is a personal essay, so sources are not required. But you can use popular sources (with citations).3 – 4 pages, doublespaced
Topic Groups (25%)
Most weeks we will have a “panel discussion” on a topic related to that week’s readings. The panel groups will be set up during Week 2. These are not presentations, so please no PowerPoint.
Each week has a topic, but not all topics will have assigned groups. Students can volunteer for a second topic for extra credit. If you do two topics, you can choose which one to write about in your topic essay.
Each group should provide the class with one article or artifact to discuss. You may include articles referenced in the endnotes; artifacts can be videos, demos (such as the cellular automata demos we will investigate in week 7), or devices.
The topic panel discussions are graded based on familiarity with the readings, class engagement, and relevance to the topic.
Topic Essays (25%)
After the group panel discussion, each member will write up a brief (1-2 page) essay explaining their position on the topic.
The topic essays are individual assignments, though of course you can use materials from your group. In the essay, explain your position on the issue discussed in your group. What was your opinion before this class? What was it after your discussion? Did it change, and why? What do you think are the most important points to consider about your issue?The topic essay is not a research paper, but it should guide your research for the Final Essay
The topic essays are due one week after your group discussion.
Zotero Group Library (10%)
Each group should maintain a research library in Zotero. Each group member should contribute at least three sources (scholarly, academic, or popular) to the library. I will also occasionally add materials to the libraries. Sources for the final essay should be drawn from this library. This is a group project, but will be individually graded,.
Final Essay (25%)
The final essay should present your research on your topic. You should remain in your topic groups, though there will be chances to switch into another group. The groups can share resources (articles, etc) but the essays are individual assignments. The final essay should have at least 5 sources, mostly scholarly or academic sources.
| AI in Your Field | Sunday Feb 2 | 15% |
| Topic Panel Discussions | Weeks 3 – 14 | 25% |
| Individual Topic Essay | One week after Topic Panel Discussion | 25% |
| Zotero Group Library | Sunday April 27 | 10% |
| Final Paper | Thursday May 8 | 25% |
Course Policies
GMU Common Course Policies
The following policies are common to all GMU courses:
- Academic Standards
- Accommodations for Students with Disabilities
- FERPA and Use of GMU Email Addresses for Course Communication
- Title IX Resources and Required Reporting
Information about these policies can be found at the GMU Common Course Policies page.
Technology Policy: For class meetings, you should bring a laptop computer or tablet, as we will do some research and writing in class. Accessing course materials on a cell phone is not optimal, but is acceptable if no other device is available. Please refrain from off-task uses of mobile devices.
All course materials will be available via BlackBoard. Major assignments must be uploaded as file attachments (pdf, doc, docx, odf are all acceptable formats).
Class Participation / Engagement: , I expect everyone to attend class meetings unless they are ill or have an excused absence due to medical, military, or other program activities (sports, forensics, etc). In class discussions and presentations are part of the grade in this course. You may miss up to two classes with no excuses (but you are responsible for the material posted on BlackBoard). If you are ill, you are automatically excused from class--I do not need a doctor's note unless the absence is extended (more than a week).
Grading: Grades on the essays will be based primarily on the quality of the writing. I value clear, focused writing with plenty of examples. The Group Reports and Presentations will be graded on the quality of the sources (reliable and current) and the engagement of the group members with the material. The Blackboard Discussions will be graded at the end of the course, not individually. If you post to every discussion forum and regularly comment on other posts, you will receive full credit for the discussions. You should post to every discussion, and comment on other's posts when appropriate.
I calculate final grades by converting the letter grades to a 100 point scale using the following values:
| A+ 97 – 100 (98) | A 93 – 96.9 (95) | A- 90 – 92.9 (91.5) |
| B+ 87 – 89.9 (88.5) | B 84 – 86.9 (85) | B- 80 – 83.9 (81.5) |
| C+ 77 – 79.9 (78,5) | C 74 – 76.9 (75) | C- 70 – 73.9 (71.5) |
| D 60 – 69.9 (65) | F 0 – 59.9 (55) |
Midterm Grades: You will receive a midterm grade based on the work of the first half of the semester, which you can view in PatriotWeb. The midterm grades' purpose is to help you understand how well you are doing so that you can make any adjustments necessary. It is not meant to predict your final grade, as the work in the second half of the semester may be weighted more heavily
Late Assignments: BlackBoard sets "end of day" as 11:59 pm when marking an assignment as late. I am not waiting at my computer at midnight to start grading. If an assignment comes in after midnight, I do not consider it late. I don't consider an assignment late until the day after the due date.
I am flexible with deadline extensions on most assignments. Several assignments are group work, however, so you need to be mindful of your group-mates. If you need an extension of a few days, just let me know. Unless you make prior arrangements with me, however, late assignments will be subject to a 10% grade reduction per week.
Revision Policy: The individual assignments (Essay 1, Individual Topic essays) may be revised for a higher grade, but they must be substantially revised. You cannot lose a grade by revising, but a higher grade is not guaranteed. All revisions must be submitted within 2 weeks of receiving a grade on the assignment. Assignments may be revised twice, as long as each revision is submitted within two weeks of receiving a grade. However, no revisions or late assignments will be accepted after April 27.
The Final paper cannot be revised. I grade this assignments with that restriction in mind.
Plagiarism and Academic Standards
It is expected that students adhere to the George Mason University Academic Standards as it relates to integrity regarding coursework and grades. More information about Mason's Academic Standards, including discussion of Honesty, Acknowledgment, and Uniqueness of Work, can be found on the Academic Standards page and Mason's Common Course Policies Page.
Two fundamental principles to follow at all times are:
- All work submitted must be your own.
- When using the work or ideas of others, you must properly attribute source or resource use
Determinations regarding violations are made by the Office of Academic Standards, which may issue sanctions ranging from grade reductions to course failure to expulsion from GMU.
Generative-AI tools, such as ChatGPT and Microsoft CoPilot, should not be used in this course unless specified by the assignment. Use of such tools presents ethical and academic dishonesty issues, especially if the work is presented as your own. While such tools may be used to generate ideas, brainstorm, or outline larger works, the language in work you submit in this course should always be your own. Submitted work that is not your own is an Academic Standards violation ("Unauthorized use of artificial intelligence software, generative or otherwise ")
I will not use AI-detection software in this course, as it is unreliable and likely makes the generative AI software even less detectable, as the submitted works become part of the generative AI corpus. If you do use generative AI software, you will be responsible for any incorrect, biased, or unethical information that is submitted.
Finally, you must be transparent with your use even on assignments in which you are required or permitted to use Generative AI.
GMU Nondiscrimination Policy: George Mason University is committed to providing an educational and work environment free from any discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, marital status, pregnancy status, or genetic information. George Mason University shall adhere to all applicable state and federal equal opportunity/affirmative action statutes and regulations.
Gender Identity and Pronoun Use: If you wish, please share your name and gender pronouns with me and how best to address you in class and via email. Chosen pronouns (as selected in PatriotWeb) will display wherever a user profile displays in Blackboard courses, such as in discussion boards.
Resources
- GMU Library
- GMU Writing Center
- Zotero (a free, open source bibliographic tool, developed at GMU)
- CAPS (Counseling and Psychological Services): CAPS offers free counseling and academic workshops and a 24/7 student crisis line: (703) 993-2380. Services are provided by professional counseling and clinical psychologists, social workers, and counselors. CAPS' individual and group counseling, workshops and outreach programs are designed to enhance students; personal experience and academic performance.
- SSAC (Student Support and Advocacy Center): SSAC offers educational programming, one-on-one consultations, and resources in the areas of interpersonal violence, personal wellness, and alcohol and drug use. SSAC manages the Stay Mason Support Fund, which is designed to provide temporary, short-term assistance to students experiencing financial hardship. The fund is available to all students, regardless of immigration status.
- Learning Services, located in SUB I, Suite 3600, provides a variety of free, experience-based learning opportunities for the Mason Community through one-on-one academic coaching, academic success workshops, and online resources
Important dates
| First day of classes | Tuesday Jan 21 |
| Last day to add classes– all individualized section forms due | Tuesday Jan 28 |
| Last day to drop with no tuition penalty | Tuesdays Feb 4 |
| Unrestricted Withdrawal Period (100% tuition liability) | Wednesday Feb 12 – Tuesday Feb 25 |
| Midterm progress reporting | Monday Feb 17 – Friday Mar 21 |
| Selective Withdrawal period | Wednesday Feb 26 – Monday March 31 |
| Spring Break (University Closed) | Monday March 10 – Sunday March 16 |
| Last Day of classes | Monday May 5 |
| Reading Day Reading days provide students with additional study time for final examinations. Faculty may schedule optional study sessions, but regular classes or exams may not be held. |
Tuesday May 6 and Sunday May 11 |
| Exam Period | Wednesday May 7 – Wednesday May 14 |
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