CORE 1000: The Most Human Computer - Class Page

Fall 2024

1. Course Description
2. Prerequisites
3. Lecture
4. Studios
5. Labs
6. Course Schedule
7. SLU Git Repository
8. Textbooks and Other Resources
9. Grading
10. Attendance
11. COVID-19 Considerations for Fall 2021
12. Fall 2021 Mask Policy
13. Academic Integrity
14. Title IX Statement
15. Academic Support
16. Disability Services
17. Writing Center
18. Basic Needs Security

Course Description

Since the dawn of modern computing, thinkers have asked what the limits of mechanical processes really are. What is it that truly separates the intellectual domain of the human mind from problems that can be solved by an algorithm? Computers are inherently machines that carry out instructions mindlessly and repeatedly, so surely there must be some difference between what that mechanical process can achieve and the boundless creativity of the human mind. And yet, the mechanical thinking machines have slowly but steadily expanded what they can do, and simultaneously encroach on what we once considered to be uniquely human. Where does this process stop- will there be something left that separates man from the machines?

"Two possibilities exist: either we are alone in the Universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying."

- Arthur C. Clarke

Course "Big Questions"

• What does it mean for a problem to be solvable by a computer?
• Are there problems that humans can solve, but computers can't solve?
• Are there problems that computers can solve, that humans can't solve?
• What does it mean to be conscious?
• What does it mean to be human?
• Could computers ever fulfill what it means to be human? If not, what differentiates humans from machines?

The major elements of this course are class meetings, readings, reflections, programming assignments, a course programming project, and a research project. Lectures are our time together for instruction on programming concepts and discussion of class readings. Out of class readings allow you to access concepts beyond what we have time for during class, and also give you time to digest and reflect on ideas before class discussion. Reflections are out of class activities along with written journal entries that allow us to experience class concepts in the real world. Programming assignments are computer programs I ask you to write to learn programming concepts and demonstrate mastery. The course programming project is a semester-long project where you will implement a "chat bot"- a program that attempts to converse with a user as though it is human. The research report asks you to examine one of our main course questions from a domain of your choosing.

Programming Topics Outline:

• What is a program, what is an algorithm
• Variables: declaring, initializing, using, and modifying
• Vector/array data: declaring, initializing, using, and modifying
• Plotting and visualizing data
• Control structures (if-then/else, for loops, while loops, switch statements)
• Functions
• Structuring code effectively
• Reading/writing data to files
• Text data and string handling

Course Concepts Outline:

• Algorithms and machines
• Turing tests
• Natural language processing
• Philosophical and religious roots of meaning
• Automation and mechanization
• Human-computer iteraction and designing for the human
• Information theory and data compression
• Computability and complexity theory
• Consciousness
• Free will and determinism

Ignatian Pedagogical Paradigm

Known as "Ignatian" because it is rooted in the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits), the five elements together comprised (and continue to comprise) the essential components of Jesuits' meditative practices and became integrated with the Jesuits' approach to education in the schools they established around the world.

Our goal in this course is not to master material or learn skills, but rather to cultivate informed, well-rounded opinions on a difficult subject that has no definite answers. We also seek to develop in each student their own personal approach to inquiry- you will find that some arguments are meaningful and persuasive, while others are not, and that is a good thing to understand about yourself. I will also ask that you have the patience to understand those arguments you do not find persuasive, and understand why others do find them persuasive.

The cyclic structure above hints at, we will attempt to engage our course topic multiple times and in multiple ways. We will intersperse our reading, discussions, and programming with activities and reflections that ask us to continually evaluate and re-evaluate the opinions we are forming.

Course Activities

Readings- We will do readings out of our course text as well as from other sources. These are to be completed by class on the day they are listed on the schedule, as they may form the basis for the activities in class that day.

Class Discussion- A substantial component of our course will be wrestling with readings and concepts together in community. Our courses' Big Questions are inherently tied to the human experience, so more human experiences are a broader base for understanding!

Reflections- I will periodically ask you to produce short written reflections on specific readings, concepts, or course Big Questions. These are an opportunity for you to take stock of your own thoughts and feelings and put these into words.

Programming Assignments- A major experiential learning component of this course is for each student to do substantial programming activities themselves. A technical understanding of how computer programs are constructed will help inform the student as to how machines do their "thinking," or lack thereof.

Research Project- A culminating presentation for the course will be to research and present a unique take on humanity, the human/computer experience, or how humans interact with computers. This presentation asks you to approach one of our Big Questions from a perspective outside of computer science and programming: biology, psychology, philosophy, religion, etc. In lieu of a final exam you will present this perspective during the last week or two of class.

University Core

The Saint Louis University Core is an academic program intentionally structured to facilitate student achievement of both holistic and component-level student learning outcomes (SLOs). SLU’s Course Syllabus Policy requires that learning outcomes appear on all syllabi.

Ignite Seminar

This course is part of the Saint Louis University Core, an integrated intellectual experience completed by all baccalaureate students, regardless of major, program, college, school or campus. The Core offers all SLU students the same unified approach to Jesuit education guided by SLU’s institutional mission and identity and our nine undergraduate Core Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs).

Catalog Description:What does it mean to be human, and how close can a computer get? This class explores the theory of what is and is not computable, as well as definitions for what it means to have conscious human thought, and how those two concepts relate. This course also serves as an introduction to computer programming and asks that the student experience and reflect on how people interact with computers to solve complex, modern problems as well as how computing is shaping the human experience.

Prerequisites

• No prerequisites, no programming experience required.

Please see the instructor if you're uncertain about your preparation for this course.

Course Schedule

SLU Git Repository

All homeworks will be submitted via individual course Git repositories that are housed at SLU. You will find your repository already has a directory structure that provides a place for all lab and studio assignments. Your work must be in the appropriate location for the instructor to find it and count it for credit.

A short guide to using SLU's git resources

Textbook and Class Resources

Required Course Book: The Most Human Human by Brian Christian.

Work Submission

This course will include coding homework and non-coding homework. All work must be submitted to the appropriate location in order to recieve credit. Any work not submitted correctly (emailed, printed and left under my door, etc.) will not recieve credit.

Any code you create will be submitted through Github. Github is used by software developers to store and share code. You will need to create a Github account if you do not already have one. We will demonstrate the use of Github in class.

Any non coding homework will be submitted through Canvas.

Textbook and Class Resources

Required Course Book: The Most Human Human by Brian Christian.

Grading Policy

Grading is done on a straight scale (uncurved). The following scores are guaranteed. The grading scale may be curved upwards (in your favor) at the discretion of the instructor.

• 93% guarantees an A
• 90% guarantees an A-
• 87% guarantees a B+
• 83% guarantees a B
• 80% guarantees a B-
• 77% guarantees a C+
• 73% guarantees a C
• 70% guarantees a C-
• 60% guarantees a D

Most work assigned in this course, is expected to be completed individually. The sharing of written work or significant portions of code between students is strictly prohibited.

Attendance

Successful students attend all or mostly all class sessions. This is true in my experience and has been demonstrated in large scale studies as well. In that study, even students who attended nine out of ten class periods had measurably lower class performance than those who attended all classes. However, there is no attendance requirement for this class, and you do not need to get permission when you do miss class. You are an adult and have the freedom to manage your time in whatever way you feel is most useful. Job interviews, conferences, tests in other courses, etc. are all reasonable cases for being absent.

Attendance grade will be determined by taking roll call at the start of class. For credit, you must be in class and respond when your name is called. This will happen approximately 10 times over the course of the semester.

In-Class Participation grade will be determined by responses to online surveys or submissions of in-class work to Canvas. Such activities can only be submitted during class time. Once the submission window closes these activities can no longer be submitted and cannot be made up. Please make sure to participate and click "submit" on all such activities!

Note that in-class assignments such as group work, discussion groups, or attendance assignments cannot be made up outside of class without prior approval from the instructor. Major activities such as quizzes or tests will be listed on the course schedule with ample time to prepare (i.e. there are no "pop quizes").

If you do miss class you should refer to the course schedule to see what was missed and arrange to get course notes from another student. I am always happy to answer questions but I do not repeat full class periods in office hours.

Generative Artificial Intelligence (ChatGPT, LLMs, etc.)

Three really important points:

• Use of generative AI chat systems (GenAI) is allowed subject to important restrictions below. 
• Violation of those restrictions is considered cheating and will result in a zero for the assignment or a failing grade for the course.
• The following is the Generative AI policy for this course. Other instructors at the university will have their own policies for their own courses. You are expected to understand and follow course policies for each course individually. My policy below does not apply to any other course, and no other course policies override or modify the policy stated here. Just because Professor XYZ says you can do it, does not mean you can do it in this course.

Recent surveys of student behavior suggest that 80% of computing students are using GenAI as a replacement for internet searches, to learn course concepts, or to help troubleshoot faulty code. These informational purposes are allowed and encouraged! GenAI has a wonderful ability to immediately provide you relevant and personalized information in a way that internet searches do not. Searching an error code on Google, for example, will return dozens of results about dozens of people all with their own individual problems, and then you have to sift through all that information to find the one answer that is meaningful to you. In that sense, GenAI can be thought of as a super search engine. As a student, this helps you learn things faster. That's good!

However, GenAI can also be used to cheat. You can ask GenAI to write your program for you, or copy-paste your program and ask it to fix your bugs. That's bad! You won't understand the problems, you won't understand the solutions, and if I ask you to explain your code you won't even be able to tell me how your code works. As a student, this is self-destructive and prevents you from learning.

In general, you are permitted to use GenAI to help yourself learn faster. You are forbidden using GenAI to do your work for you. This is not actually a complicated policy! At the risk of horribly anthropomorphizing technology, imagine GenAI is a human friend sitting next to you. You already understand what kinds of questions are acceptable and which are not. Asking your friend to explain a programming language feature is not cheating. Asking your friend what an error message means is not cheating. Asking your friend to write code for you is cheating. Giving your friend your code and asking them to fix the bugs is cheating. Asking to see your friend's solution and writing your own version is cheating. The fact that you may be asking a GenAI system instead of a human friend does not change whether those things are acceptable or cheating. 

If it would be OK to ask a human friend, it's OK to ask ChatGPT. If it would be cheating to ask a human friend, then it's cheating to ask ChatGPT (or Google Gemini, or Github Copilot, etc.). 

A few explicit rules:

• You ARE NOT allowed to copy any code from GenAI into your work and submit it. Submitting any amount of generated code is cheating!
• A little more subtle- you ARE NOT allowed to copy code from your work into any GenAI system. Copying your code into a GenAI system is considered cheating!
• You ARE NOT allowed to ask GenAI to generate a solution for you and then use that solution as a template for writing your own solution.
• You ARE NOT allowed to use GenAI to generate solutions to any homework, quiz, or test questions for the course.
• You ARE ALLOWED to copy error messages (including automatically generated code snippets) into GenAI systems and ask for clarification. 
• You ARE ALLOWED to ask GenAI any informational questions about programming, programming languages, course concepts, etc. You are allowed to use GenAI for brainstorming as well. 

If you have any questions or want any clarifications to this policy, then please ask me. If you find yourself in an uncertain situation, then please ask me and let me give you advice. This is a brave new world for all of us, and I'm not pretending that I have everything already figured out. I am very willing to be lenient with well-intentioned students who are upfront about how they're using the technology.

Academic Integrity/Honesty

Academic integrity is the commitment to and demonstration of honest and moral behavior in an academic setting. Since the mission of the University is "the pursuit of truth for the greater glory of God and for the service of humanity," acts of integrity are essential to its very reason for existence. Thus, the University regards academic integrity as a matter of serious importance. Academic integrity is the foundation of the academic assessment process, which in turn sustains the ability of the University to certify to the outside world the skills and attainments of its graduates. Adhering to the standards of academic integrity allows all members of the University to contribute to a just and equitable learning environment that cultivates moral character and self-respect. The full University-level Academic Integrity Policy can be found on the Provost's Office website at: https://www.slu.edu/provost/policies/academic-and-course/academic-integrity-policy.pdf.  

[last updated: May 2024]

Disability Accommodations

Students with a documented disability who wish to request academic accommodations must formally register their disability with the University. Once successfully registered, students also must notify their course instructor that they wish to use their approved accommodations in the course.

Please contact the Center for Accessibility and Disability Resources (CADR) to schedule an appointment to discuss accommodation requests and eligibility requirements. Most students on the St. Louis campus will contact CADR, located in the Student Success Center and available by email at accessibility_disability@slu.edu or by phone at 314.977.3484. Once approved, information about a student’s eligibility for academic accommodations will be shared with course instructors by email from CADR and within the instructor’s official course roster. Students who do not have a documented disability but who think they may have one also are encouraged to contact to CADR. Confidentiality will be observed in all inquiries.

Note: due to accreditation requirements, regulatory differences, and/or location-specific resources, the School of Law, the School of Medicine, and SLU Madrid have their own standard language for syllabus statements related to disability accommodations. Faculty in those units should seek guidance for syllabus requirements from their dean’s office.

[last updated: August 2023]

Student Success Center

The Student Success Center (SSC) supports students in reaching their goals in and out of the classroom. Providing a variety of resources, the Student Success Center houses both the Center for Accessibility and Disability Resources (CADR) and Academic Support, which includes Tutoring, Supplemental Instruction, University Writing Services, and Student Success Coaching. The Student Success Center is located in the Busch Student Center, Suite 331, and students can make an appointment with any SSC resource via EAB Navigate. To learn more about the Student Success Center and its resources, please visit: https://www.slu.edu/life-at-slu/student-success-center/index.php.

[last updated: August 2023]

University Writing Services

University Writing Services offers one-on-one consultations with trained writing consultants from different disciplines who help with everything from brainstorming, outlining, and proposing research questions to documenting sources, revising, and implementing feedback. These consultations can take place in-person, asynchronously, or via Zoom and can be scheduled through EAB Navigate – StudentLinks to an external site.. Getting feedback benefits writers at all skill levels on different writing projects (including but not limited to class assignments, conference papers, cover letters, dissertations, group projects, multimedia assignments, personal statements, senior capstone projects, short answer questions on applications, speeches, and theses). For additional information, visit https://www.slu.edu/life-at-slu/student-success-center/academic-support/university-writing-services/index.php or send an email to writing@slu.edu.

[last updated: August 2023]

University Counseling Center

The University Counseling Center (UCC) offers free, short-term, solution-focused counseling to Saint Louis University undergraduate and graduate students. UCC counselors are highly trained clinicians who can assist with a variety of issues, such as adjustment to college life, troubling changes in mood, and chronic psychological conditions. To make an appointment for a wellness consultation, call 314-977-8255 (TALK), or visit the clinic on the second floor of Wuller Hall. For after-hours needs, please press #9 after dialing the clinic number.

 [last updated: April 2024]

Wellness

With our Jesuit commitment to cura personalis, the University sees your academic success as connected to your health and well-being and provides resources to support your holistic wellness.

All students experience stressors and challenges at some point, and seeking support is both normal and beneficial. Such challenges may be the result of academic concerns (such as those related to particular assignments or content in a course), or they may be more personal in nature (such as concerns related to relationships, mental health, medical issues, loss, identities, alcohol or drugs, housing or food security, finances, or local/world events, among other things). If you experience these or other difficulties that are impacting your well-being and/or academic work, please consider seeking support from the resources available to you.

• For questions or concerns related to this course, please contact me. I am invested in your success and will support your success in the ways I can. 
• Additionally, you have access to the many resources SLU provides in support of your personal wellness. You will find a list of available resources on the Well-being page of the SLU website. 

If you or someone you know is experiencing a crisis: please consult Crisis Support and Warning Signs on the University Counseling Center website or call the University Counseling Center at 314-977-TALK (8255) and press #9 to be connected to a behavioral health nurse 24/7.

[last updated: April 2024]

Basic Needs Security

Students in personal or academic distress and/or who may be specifically experiencing challenges such as securing food or housing, or having difficulty navigating campus resources, and who believe this may affect their performance in the course, are encouraged to contact the Dean of Students Office (deanofstudents@slu.edu or 314-977-9378) for support. Furthermore, please notify the instructor if you are comfortable in doing so, as this will enable them to assist you with finding the resources you may need.

[last updated: August 2023]