CS 540: Introduction to Artificial Intelligence

Course Details

Number of credits: 3

How credit hours are met by the course: This class meets for two 75-minute class periods each week over the semester and carries the expectation that students will work on course learning activities (reading, writing, problem sets, studying, etc.) for about 3 hours outside of the classroom for every class period.

Prerequisites: (COMP SCI 300 or 320), (MATH 320, 340, 341, 345, 375, or E C E/COMP SCI/M E 532), and (STAT 311, 324, 333, 340, 371, STAT/MATH 309, 431, MATH 331, 531, or E C E 331), or graduate/professional standing, or declared in the Capstone Certificate in Computer Sciences for Professionals.

The course schedule is subject to change. Any changes will be announced in lecture and on Piazza.

Textbook: Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach (4th edition). Stuart Russell and Peter Norvig. Pearson, 2020. ISBN 978-0134610993. (textbook is optional, but may be useful)

Both sections cover the same material and share homework assignments, exams, and grading. While you should attend the lecture you are enrolled in, you are welcome at the office hours of either instructor and of any TA or peer mentor.

Communication

The instructors and TAs will post announcements, clarifications, hints, etc. on Piazza. Hence you must check the CS 540 Piazza page frequently throughout the term. If you have a question, your best option is to post a message on Piazza. The staff will check the forum regularly, and if you use the forum, other students will be able to help you too. When using the forum, please do not post answers to homework questions before the homework is due.

If your question is personal or not of interest to other students, you may mark your question as private on Piazza, so only the instructors will see it. If you wish to talk with one of us individually, you are welcome to come to our office hours. Please reserve email for the questions you can’t get answered in office hours or through the forum.

Office Hours

Office hours for the instructors, TAs, and peer mentors are listed at the top of this page. Office hours of all course staff are open to students in both sections. See below for guidance about specific office hours, noting that these guidelines can be changed at any time.

• Instructor office hours are best for conceptual questions, course logistics, and anything you would like to discuss with an instructor directly.
• TA office hours should be used for conceptual and high-level questions. They are open to everyone unless someone specifically asks for a private meeting.
• Peer mentor office hours should be used for programming-related questions or moderate conceptual questions.
  • TA and peer mentor office hours will be in MH B2580.
  • There will be a queue written on the board. Interactions will be limited to 10 minutes, after which you can rejoin the queue by putting your name at the end of it.

In addition to office hours, there will be a discussion section held in MH 3610. Led by a TA, this section will be dedicated to reviewing material, practice problems, and in-depth discussion.

📊 Grading

The final grade will be calculated based on:

• Homework: 30%
• Midterm Exam: 30%
• Final Exam: 40%

The final letter grade will be assigned based on an approximate curve using the percentile of the averaged points in the class; the ranges below reflect past offerings of CS 540. As student performance may vary from semester to semester, the instructors reserve the right to adjust this distribution. There is no participation bonus.

• A: top 15–25% of course grades
• AB: next 15–25%
• B: next 0–20%
• BC: next 0–20%
• C: next 0–20%
• D/F: 0–5%

McBurney Center students should contact the instructors to specify any special requests for the exams or homework assignments, together with the supporting documentation provided by the McBurney Center. We will do our best to accommodate the requests.

📝 Homeworks

Homework assignments include written problems and programming (in Python). Frequently asked questions (FAQs) on homework assignments will be posted on Piazza. Homework is released on a Friday and due at 11:59 PM the following Friday, except for Homework 10, which spans Thanksgiving recess and is due two weeks after it is released. Late submissions will not be accepted. Assignment grading questions must be raised with the TAs within 72 hours after it is returned. Note that a regrading request for a part of a homework question may trigger the grader to regrade the entire homework and could potentially take points off. Regrading will be done on the original submitted work, no changes allowed.

There are ten homework assignments. The two lowest homework scores are dropped from the final homework average calculation. This drop is meant for emergency usage. Additional drops, late days, or homework extensions will not be provided.

Homework assignments will be posted to Canvas, but students must submit to Gradescope. Submissions via Canvas will not be graded.

📚 Exams

• Midterm: TBD, expected evening in mid/late October
• Final: 12 December 2026, 12:25 PM - 2:25 PM

The midterm and final exams will both be taken by both sections at the same time. Alternate exams will be scheduled before the actual ones. Health or family emergency conflicts will be handled on a case-by-case basis; contact us as soon as possible.

The exams are challenging: we target a median score of around 60%. The letter grade distribution above accounts for this.

The exams are closed-book. No notes, electronic devices, AI tools, or help from anyone else are permitted.

Grading questions must be raised within 72 hours after the exam is returned. If a regrade request is submitted for a part of a question on the exam, the grader reserves the right to regrade the entire exam and could potentially take points off.

⚖️ Academic Integrity

Cheating and plagiarism will be dealt with in accordance with University procedures (UW–Madison Academic Misconduct Rules and Procedures).

Collaboration with other students on homework is encouraged: you may work through the assignments together, compare answers, and debug each other’s code. However, each student must write up and submit their own solution, and all examinations must be completed individually.

Use of AI tools and other resources on homework is allowed: you may use artificial intelligence tools (such as ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, or Cursor) as well as books or online resources on homework without restriction. Note that the exams are closed-book and worth 70% of your grade, so the homework is your main opportunity to learn the material.

Declare your collaborators and your use of AI or other resources at the top of each homework solution: “I discussed Q2–Q3 with X and Y; I used Claude to debug the code in Q4; I found a hint for Q1 on StackOverflow.” There is no penalty for anything you declare here. Failing to declare it is an academic integrity violation.

♿ Disability Information

The University of Wisconsin–Madison supports the right of all enrolled students to a full and equal educational opportunity. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Wisconsin State Statute (36.12), and UW–Madison policy (Faculty Document 1071) require that students with disabilities be reasonably accommodated in instruction and campus life. Reasonable accommodations for students with disabilities is a shared faculty and student responsibility. Students are expected to inform the instructors of their need for instructional accommodations by the end of the third week of the semester, or as soon as possible after a disability has been incurred or recognized. The instructors will work either directly with the student or in coordination with the McBurney Center to identify and provide reasonable instructional accommodations. Disability information, including instructional accommodations as part of a student’s educational record, is confidential and protected under FERPA. (See: McBurney Disability Resource Center.)