[Subject to change based on enrollment]
- [Tu 01/23] Lecture 1 – Introductory lecture on modules, assignments, materials, and policies.
-
Module 1 – Visual Calculating and Rule-Based Design I [Weeks 1-3]
In this first module, we focus on things designed – the real-world artifacts of human design.
@@ -91,6 +91,7 @@ Module 1 – Visual Calculating and Rule-Based Des
- Basic Elements: Symbols vs Shapes
- Part-Relation: Identity vs Embedding
+
Assignment 1 Released (individual); Due 02/06
@@ -99,8 +100,8 @@ Module 1 – Visual Calculating and Rule-Based Des
- Shape Arithmetic
- Spatial Relations
- - Descriptions: Labels, Weights, Decompositions
- - Seeing, Recognition, and Redescription
+ - Descriptions: Labels and Decompositions
+ - Recognition and Redescription
@@ -113,6 +114,7 @@
Module 1 – Visual Calculating and Rule-Based Des
1.2. Excerpts on “Pattern Recognition” from John R. Anderson, Cognitive Psychology and Its Implications, 6th Edition (W. H. Freeman and Company, 2005).
1.3. Excerpt from Chapter 13 “Seeing and Believing” in M. Minsky, The Society of Mind (Simon & Schuster, Inc., 1988)
1.4. Excerpt from “Part & Whole” by J. Koenderink (De Clootcrans Press, 2013).
+
(optional) 1.5. Excerpt from “Developing Musical Structures” by J. S. Bamberger (MIT Faculty Newsletter, 2004).
@@ -128,7 +130,7 @@
Module 2 – Visual Calculating and Rule-Based Des
Visual Algorithms (Shape Grammars)
Stylistic Analysis and Generation
-
[Assignment 2 (individual) :“A2: Visual Calculating and Rule-Based Design”; Due 02/22.]
+
Assignment 2 released (individual); Due 02/22.
@@ -157,15 +159,16 @@ Module 2 – Visual Calculating and Rule-Based Des
- - [Tue 02/20] Class Activity: Student-led Discussion of Readings with Invited Guest
+ - [Tue 02/20] Class Activity: Student-led Discussion of Readings with Invited Guest
- Readings:
- 2.1. Excerpt from The Design of Everyday Things by D. Norman (Basic Books, 2002).
- 2.2. Excerpt from Shapes of Imagination: Calculating in Coleridge’s Magical Realm, by G. Stiny (The MIT Press, 2022).
- - 2.3. “What Makes Things,” by Derek Thompson (The Atlantic, January/February, 2017).
+ - 2.3. “What Makes Things Cool?” by D. Thompson (The Atlantic, January/February, 2017).
- 2.4. “The Aesthetics of the Ordinary and Familiar,” Y. Saito (Oxford University Press, 2017).
- - (optional) Catalogue of Extraordinary Objects, by J. Carelman (Abelard- Schuman, 1974).
+ - (optional) 2.5 Catalogue of Extraordinary Objects, by J. Carelman (Abelard- Schuman, 1974).
+ - (optional) 2.6. Movie scene “Story #1: Art and Artists section” from The French Dispatch (2021) by Wes Anderson.
@@ -185,52 +188,45 @@
Module 3 – Problem-Solving and Learning [Weeks 6
- Models of Problem-Solving
- Models of Learning
- - The Sciences of the Artificial (Design)
+ - Revisiting The Sciences of the Artificial (Design)
-
[Assignment 3 (multi-step team assignment):“A3: Problem-Solving and Learning”; Due: 03/19.]
+
Assignment 3 (multi-step team assignment); Due: 03/19.
+
(optional) Opening movie scene “The Dawn of Man” from 2001: Space Odyssey (1968), by Stanley Kubrick.
- - [Thu 02/29] Class Activity: The Design Space
-
-
- - Design Modeling with Constraint-Graphs and Search
-
-
-
-
- - [Tue 03/05] Guest Lecture - TBD
-
-
- - [Thu 03/07] Lecture 7: Computational Learning Part I
+ - [Thu 02/29] Lecture 7: Learning as Discernment
- Types of Learning
- - K-NN and Decision Trees
+ - From Observed Instances to Feature Discernment (Embedding)
+ - Visual/Spatial Challenges for Learning from “Design Data”
- - [Tue 03/12] Lecture 8: Computational Learning Part II
+ - [Tue 03/05] Lecture 8: Computational Learning Part I
- - Modeling Neural Nets
- - Embedding (Learning by Discernment)
+ - Neighbors and Decision Trees
+ - Clustering
- - [Thu 03/14] Class Activity: Exercise on Rules and Learning and Assignment 3 Review
+ - [Thu 03/07] Lecture 9: Computational Learning Part II
- - Learning from Small-Size Data in Design and the Applied Arts
+ - Modeling Neural Nets
+ - Representation Learning
- - [Final Project Handout: “Formulate Your Final Project”; Due: 04/11]
+ - Final Project Handout: “Formulate Your Final Project”; Due: 04/11.
- [Tue 03/12] No Class – Spring Recess
+
- [Thu 03/14] No Class – Spring Recess
@@ -238,20 +234,17 @@
Module 3 – Problem-Solving and Learning [Weeks 6
[Tue 03/19] Assignment 3 Presentations and Peer-Critique
- [Required: Peer-critiques documented and submitted digitally.]
- - [Assignment 4 (multi-step team assignment):“A4: Human-AI Interaction”; Due: 04/01.]
+ - Assignment 4 (multi-step team assignment):Presentation: 03/28, Due: 04/02.
- - [Thu 03/21] Class Activity: Human-AI Interaction Evaluation, sponsored by HILT
+ - [Thu 03/21] Class Activity: Human-AI Interaction Evaluation
- [Required: In-Class Group Work with Mandatory Documentation and Presentation.]
- - [Tue 03/26] Class Activity: Human-AI Interaction Evaluation (continued)
-
- - [Required: In-Class Group Work with Mandatory Documentation and Presentation.]
-
+ - [Tue 03/26] Class Activity: Human-AI Interaction Evaluation (continued)
- [Thu 03/28] Class Activity: Assignment 4 Presentations and Peer-Critique
@@ -264,28 +257,30 @@ Module 3 – Problem-Solving and Learning [Weeks 6
- Readings:
- - 4.1. Excerpt from “Computing Machinery and Intelligence” by A. M. Turing
+
- 3.1. Excerpt from “Computing Machinery and Intelligence” by A. M. Turing
(Mind 49, 1950).
- - 4.2. “Computer Science as Empirical Inquiry: Symbols and Search” by A. Newell and H. A. Simon (1975 ACM Turing Award Lecture).
- - 4.3. “The Science of Design: Creating the Artificial,” Chapter 5 in The Sciences of the Artificial, 3rd Edition by H. A. Simon (The MIT Press, 1996).
- - 4.4. “Introduction,” Chapter 1 in Deep Learning by Ian Goodfellow, Yoshua Bengio and Aaron Courville (The MIT Press, 2016).
- - 4.5. Excerpt from What is ChatGPT Doing... And Why Does It Work? By Stephen Wolfram (Wolfram Media, Inc., 2023).
- - 4.6. “AI And the Limits of Language,” by J. Browning and Y. LeCun (Noema, August 23, 2022).
- - 4.7. “Formulations of the Generative in Design, Science and Technology,” by A. Haridis (Leonardo, 2023, forthcoming).
+ - 3.2. “The Science of Design: Creating the Artificial,” Chapter 5 in The Sciences of the Artificial, 3rd Edition by H. A. Simon (The MIT Press, 1996).
+ - 3.3. “AI And the Limits of Language,” by J. Browning and Y. LeCun (Noema,
+ August 23, 2022).
+ - 3.4. “Point 2” and “Point 3” in Chapter 4 from Art in the After-Culture by B. Davis (Haymarket Books, 2022).
+ - 3.5. “Formulating the Generative in Design, Science and Technology,” by A. Haridis (Prepared Reading, 2024).
+ - (optional) 3.6. “Computer Science as Empirical Inquiry: Symbols and Search” by A. Newell and H. A. Simon (1975 ACM Turing Award Lecture).
+ - (optional) 3.7. “Introduction,” Chapter 1 in Deep Learning by I. Goodfellow, Y. Bengio and A. Courville (The MIT Press, 2016).
+ - (optional) 3.8. “The End of Programming” by Matt Welsh (Communications of the ACM, 2023).
- - [Thu 04/04] Guest Lecture - TBD
+ - [Thu 04/04] Class Activity: Student-led Discussion and Analysis of Readings (continued)
Module 4: Reflections and Final Projects [Weeks 12-14]
The last module reinforces key ideas and dedicates time for final project development.
- - [Tue 04/09] Final Projects Work In-Progress Crit
+ - [Tue 04/09] Final Projects Draft Due and In-Class Presentation
- - [Thu 04/11] Midway Final Projects Review
+ - [Thu 04/11] Final Projects Work In-Progress Crit
- [Tue 04/16] Final Projects Work In-Progress Crit
@@ -298,7 +293,7 @@ Module 4: Reflections and Final Projects [Weeks 12
- [Tue 04/23] Wrap-up Lecture / Final Projects Work In-Progress Crit. Last day of class for ES138.
- - (Spring term reading period)
+ - (Spring term reading period begins.)
- Final Project Presentations (Tuesday May 7, 9:00am – 12:00pm, Room in SEC TBD)