In the last week of the semester, you will be expected to present a 20-25 minute lecture on a subfield of Artificial Intelligence that is not otherwise covered in the course. Working in a team of two people, you will research an area of research and present an overview to the class. The area you choose to research and present is up to you, although you must have that area approved by the instructor. Possibilities include (but are not limited to):

• intelligent agents
• data mining
• natural language understanding
• planning

The format of the presentations is up to you, although the following content should be included regardless of the subfield: an overview and history of the subfield, examples of significant developments, major challenges and research issues, and the current state of the subfield. The presentation will be graded both on content and the quality of the presentation. You should utilize some form of online presentation software (e.g., PowerPoint) so that your presentation can be made available for all students in the class to review. There are two intermediate checkpoints in order to provide constructive feedback in the development process:

November 22 (worth 50 pts)

At this point, you must have the content of your presentation completed (e.g., your PowerPoint slides). You will hand in a copy of your presentation and meet individually with the instructor to discuss it. The instructor may make suggestions as to changes or additions in the content of the presentation.

December 1 (worth 50 pts)

At this point, you must give a practice presentation for the instructor. The instructor may make suggestions for improving the delivery of the presentation.

December 8 (worth 100 pts)

In this final class period, you will be expected to present your topic to the class.