AI is a tough topic to teach due to its reliance on many disciplines from computer science, to philosophy and neuroscience. This class discusses theories, challenges and advancements in the field of AI, and offers students hands on experience with how an AI system may be developed. There is a lot of material to learn, and naturally a class which covers most aspects of such a vast topic requires a lot of reading and effort. The Social Bot project at the end of the quarter can be quite challenging and time consuming, but it is very rewarding. I don\355t know of another class that allows their students to learn so much about so many different fields in one class (i.e. from the structure and regulation of neurons to learning a computer programming language \361 Perl). This class is a perfect example of a class which demonstrates a clear proportionality between the amount of effort on the student's part, the knowledge gained and grade received. Don't rely on this board to determine if Professor Dario is an easy or hard teacher, take his class if you're interested in the subject and what he has to offer, which is a lot. The topics covered in this class and the lectures given correlate closely with the course text book (Mind, Introduction to Cognitive Science, MIT press). I recommend reading the chapters covered before coming to class, and outlining all information in the book for every chapter. Although deep involvement in any one discipline of the course can be cumbersome due to time restrictions, this class is designed to sufficiently go over the material involved without complicating the subject matter with unnecessary detail. I felt that Professor Dario provided an excellent introduction to the field of AI, and would recommend him to all students truly interested in the topic. Professor Dario makes the topic quite manageable by offering clear explanations for all the topics involved. He is one of the best professors I\355ve taken at UCLA.

This class was sort of like a very, very dumbed down version of introduction to cognitive science. A lot of what he "teaches" the class seems to be based off of his own personal opinions and philosophies rather than proven science. However, his tests and assignments are very easy (probably because he never teaches much of anything of substance in the first place) so I would recommend taking him if you're looking for an easy A.

Prof. Dario is absolutely wonderful! He was entertaining and engaging, two things many of faculty here at UCLA are lacking. He is one of the best professors I've had during my college career, and the course I took with him was certainly one of the most interesting. He really seems to care a lot about his students, and is always sympathetic if someone is sick or can't make it in to class. He is easy to relate to and lectures very well. I highly recommend taking a course with him!