[cvogt26]

Hey everyone,
I figured this would be a great site to post this, going off the warm welcome I've already received!  This past semester I started a USC branch of AAAI (Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence) with an electrical engineering major friend of mine, and we're trying to generate interest in the subject.  I'm running into a few issues, and I was hoping for some feedback! The University of Southern California has a great AI program on the graduate level.  For undergrads, it's none existent but for a single 400 level class.  My co-founder has been great about finding professors and a few people from industry to come speak at a handful of events, but we're lacking, ah, "cohesion".  Other groups I've been with have had a main project or competition to work towards that unites the group. 
In an effort to attract group members and give them something interactive to work with in AI (we're including robotics here), what would you do, or, what would have best caught your attention as a college student perusing club fairs?



A couple of my ideas:
Thinking robotics, a simple "mascot" that could be built and do simple things like face recognition, potentially voice command and response type operations (very maleable idea)
In-house chat bot that people could talk to at events
I'm pretty sure we'll do this at some point, but hosting a few arduino/microcontroller classes, potentially turning it into an internal competition. (mini sumo bots, or fastest/most accurate line follower)

Any input is greatly appreciated!

[Freddy]

Interesting challenge as when I was at university they did not run the AI component due to lack of interest - I dropped out shortly after..

Robotics is probably the easier thing to get interest in, some toys may help to get some general interest :

http://aidreams.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=4822.msg22878#msg22878

http://aidreams.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=4862.msg23106#msg23106

As for AI I am not sure - maybe a mini turing test...they have to guess if it's a human/machine chatting...could be done in the Wizard of Oz fashion maybe...

[cvogt26]

Robotics is probably the easier thing to get interest in, some toys may help to get some general interest :

http://aidreams.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=4822.msg22878#msg22878

http://aidreams.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=4862.msg23106#msg23106

As for AI I am not sure - maybe a mini turing test...they have to guess if it's a human/machine chatting...could be done in the Wizard of Oz fashion maybe...

Haha, those are great, especially the sphero, I hadn't seen that one before. And I'm pretty sure the hexbugs started as a DIY project where you could cut off the end of a type of toothbrush and put a little cell phone vibrator motor on the back.  It's funny to see it progress the way it has.

I like your chatbot idea, and I've noticed there are a couple of sites that allow you to easily create your own 'bot (chatbot4u.com? maybe).   

Either way, you're definitely right about the robotics being easier to get into, and perhaps that explains why USC doesn't really offer anything in the way of AI for undergrads.  It's difficult though, I'd love for us to build a robot that is eye catching, in the sense of being interactive and physically large (I figure a big robot might excite people's imagination a bit more), but of course, adding AI could prove a little difficult.  Maybe adding cameras with facial recognition?  Sorry! train of thought is a bit muddled.  It's exciting stuff, and I'm really trying to get some excitement going, but I was surprised to find that there really is not a whole lot of interest for undergrads in AI!  I feel that it might be because it's such a broad subject, and people get stuck on the "personal assistant" idea? So many questions and ideas.. so few people to answer them! 

[Freddy]

Yes there is a site about the toothbrush robot : http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/how-to-make-your-own-hexbug-na-156603

From what you write; I wonder if this site might interest you : http://robot-hosting.com/

There are a few free chatbot making sites that you might find useful if you do the Turing test thing...

Pandorabots
The Personality Forge
Your Bot

With Pandorabots you can customise the front end so that would give you a lot of options.  Over the past, say, five years a lot of the old hosting services have shut down, but there are more on the horizon - I left out others due to their beta nature.  Those three I suggested above are longer established.

Yes a lot of people are moving to the Virtual Assistant idea.  I think it's a natural progression.  ie; ok it can talk - how about it does things for me too...  Things like Siri have refreshed the interest in this kind of thing I feel and now we get 'older' technologies like AIML offering a similar thing in the form of CallMom...

http://callmom.pandorabots.com/static/callmom/index.html

It's a shame there is not a lot of interest with the undergrads.  I remember getting blank looks when I told people I wanted to study AI, and that's nearly 25 years ago now.  A lot of it is driven by enthusiasts like the members here

[Art]

Another thought along those lines Freddy is that AI isn't restricted to just one field, as I'm sure you know. AI IS alive and well but it is ALL AROUND US in practically every facet of our lives. It's in "smart" thermostats, as you mentioned, Smart Phones, cars, various appliances, etc. Most have some type of algorithm that allows the software to "learn" which activities you perform at say a given time or how you perform what and when you do. Although they really don't learn in the conventional they do amass a broad knowledge base of data and can formulate enough patterns, if...then's and other scenarios to make it seem as if they posses intelligence.

In the future, they will make decisions for us (hopefully in our best interest), personally, financially, medically, business, exploration, technology, pharmaceuticals and so much more. I'm waiting for the first AI to "collect its thoughts enough" to write a book!! Should make for an interesting read. "How I gained my mind", "If you could think like I do", and from my tag line, "In the world of AI...it's the thought that counts!"