CS486/686 Winter 2026 - Introduction to Artificial Intelligence

There will be:

• 4 programming assignments, each worth 2.5% of the final grade
• 10 chat assignments with Chrysalis, each worth 1% of the final grade

Programming assignments are done individually (i.e., no team). Most assignments will be programmed in Python. Some assignments may make use of TensorFlow or PyTorch. For GPU and TPU acceleration, feel free to use Google's Colaboratory environment. This is a free cloud service where you can run Python code (including TensorFlow and PyTorch, which are pre-installed) with GPU or TPU acceleration. The following steps are recommended:

• Create a Python notebook in Google Colab
• Click on "edit", then "notebook settings" and select "None" (CPU), "GPU" or "TPU" for hardware acceleration.

The approximate out and due dates of the programming assignments are:

• A1: out Jan 12, due Jan 23 (11:59 pm)
• A2: out Jan 26, due Feb 6 (11:59 pm)
• A3: out Feb 23, due Mar 6 (11:59 pm)
• A4: out Mar 9, due Mar 20 (11:59 pm)

On the due date of an assignment, the work done to date should be submitted electronically on the LEARN website; further material may be submitted with a 2% penalty for every rounded up hour past the deadline. For example, an assignment submitted 5 hours and 15 min late will receive a penalty of ceiling(5.25) * 2% = 12%. Assignments submitted more than 50 hours late will not be marked.