Artificial Intelligence
From AY2026/27 onwards, for AI courses with the HS prefix, i.e. HS15xx , FoS students may only select HS1501 or HS1502, and FASS students may only select HS1503 or HS1504 in CourseReg Round 1-3.
⋅ FoS students may read IT1244 to fulfil the AI pillar.
⋅ CHS students who have previously read any courses listed in the CHS Common Curriculum AI pillar prior to AY2026-2027 will be deemed to have completed the CHS Artificial Intelligence requirement. They do not need to read an additional course from the Artificial Intelligence pillar.
⋅ It is recommended that CHS students fulfil the Artificial Intelligence requirement by their second year of study.
⋅ Students in special programmes (e.g. UTCP, NUSC, RVRC, DSE-XDP, BES-XDP, PPE-XDP, or GI-XDP) should refer to their own programme requirements for the Artificial Intelligence requirement.
CS2109S/CS2109HS Introduction to AI and Machine Learning
This course introduces basic concepts in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML). It adopts the perspective that planning, games, and learning are related types of search problems, and examines the underlying issues, challenges and techniques. Planning/games related topics include tree/graph search, A* search, local search, and adversarial search (e.g., games). Learning related topics include supervised and unsupervised learning, model validation, and neural networks.
Only students reading the MA-CS DDP and/or SoC’s Artificial Intelligence minor/Computer Science second major/minor can use CS2109S to fulfil the Artificial Intelligence requirements.
CS2109HS fulfils the CHS Artificial Intelligence requirement for students in the following Major programmes:
- Data Science and Applied AI
- Geospatial Intelligence XDP
Students reading the Minor/Second Major in Computing (Sciences) may use CS2109HS to fulfil the Artificial Intelligence requirement.
HS1501 Artificial Intelligence and Society
This course focuses on the role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in our society, considering its practical and potential uses, the economics and ethics of AI, and how it can dramatically revolutionise our society in the future in areas like retail, manufacturing and service industries, national security, law enforcement and justice systems. The course is designed for students who are new to AI, and aims to equip learners with the foundational concepts in AI, with hands-on activities to experiment and learn how to train and use it.
HS1502 Conceptual Introduction to Machine Learning
Machine learning (ML) is the dominant component of modern research in artificial intelligence. Although ML is largely associated with computer science and software engineering, many of its foundational techniques have historical roots in the natural and social sciences, and are commonly used in those fields. More recently, the rapid development of modern ML also has growing implications for practitioners of the arts and humanities. Using only high-school mathematics and no programming, this course will look under the technology-centric outer hood of ML, and provide a conceptual-level introduction to the field as well as its most important techniques.
Note: Launched in Academic Year 2023/2024 Semester 2
HS1503 Living with AI: Understanding the Technology that's Changing Everything
This course provides a critical introduction to Artificial Intelligence, specifically designed for students in the humanities, social sciences, and related fields. Students will develop fluency in understanding AI capabilities and limitations, learn to evaluate AI technologies against technical, ethical, and practical criteria, and gain hands-on experience applying AI tools in contexts relevant to their disciplines. The course covers the foundations of AI (including debates about machine intelligence), the technical principles underlying both classical AI and modern machine learning (presented conceptually without programming requirements), and the societal, ethical, legal, and environmental implications of AI deployment. Students will explore applications particularly relevant to the humanities and social sciences, including textual analysis, historical research, language studies, and policy development, preparing them to make informed decisions about AI use in their future careers.
HS1504 Ex Machina? The Promises, Problems
and Potentials of AI
This introductory course integrates hands-on applications with social science perspectives, introducing students to technical, practical, and analytical frameworks for understanding what Artificial Intelligence is and how it both shapes and is shaped by contemporary society.
IT1244 Artificial Intelligence: Technology and Impact
This course introduces students to artificial intelligence, which is becoming a general purpose technology with impact in multiple areas in society, including in the sciences, arts, and business. Topics covered include a conceptual understanding of how artificial intelligence works, current strengths and weaknesses of artificial intelligence relative to humans, and the risks in deploying AIs. Students are expected to implement a simple AI proof-of-concept, and to analyse its potential benefits as well as its risks. Students taking this course are expected to have prior exposure to programming and to be familiar with variables, types, operators, arrays, conditionals, loops, and functions.
