CAIDA’s own Dr. David L. Poole and Dr. Alan K. Mackworth have recently published Artificial Intelligence: Foundations of Computational Agents (3rd edition). This book presents artificial intelligence as the study of the design of intelligent computational agents. You can read the synopsis below and find a more comprehensive summary of the book’s contents on the book’s official website. While the first and second edition are still available, with the rapid development of AI in recent years, there really is no comparison to the most recent edition. While a physical copy of the book is available, Poole and Mackworth have also made the full text freely available, and have even included online resources and slides for teaching on the website. We offer a big congratulations to Dr. David L. Poole and Dr. Alan K. Mackworth for this big achievement, and encourage everyone to check out this new publication.
Get “Artificial Intelligence: Foundations of Computational Agents" (3rd edition) here.
Synopsis:
Artificial Intelligence: Foundations of Computational Agents, 3rd edition by David L. Poole and Alan K. Mackworth, Cambridge University Press 2023, is a book about the science of artificial intelligence (AI). It presents artificial intelligence as the study of the design of intelligent computational agents. The book is structured as a textbook, but it is accessible to a wide audience of professionals and researchers. In the last decades we have witnessed the emergence of artificial intelligence as a serious science and engineering discipline. This book provides an accessible synthesis of the field aimed at undergraduate and graduate students. It provides a coherent vision of the foundations of the field as it is today. It aims to provide that synthesis as an integrated science, in terms of a multi-dimensional design space that has been partially explored. As with any science worth its salt, artificial intelligence has a coherent, formal theory and a rambunctious experimental wing. The book balances theory and experiment, showing how to link them intimately together. It develops the science of AI together with its engineering applications.
A few of the many Endorsements:
Wide-ranging, well-organized, up-to-date, and in-depth coverage of the AI world. The numerous figures, algorithms, and extensive references make this a valuable resource that readers will return to repeatedly. Instructors and students will benefit from the well-crafted end-of-chapter exercises. The thought-provoking social impact sections in each chapter and the social impact chapter admirably address the positive and harmful impacts on people. These complement the strong technical descriptions, wisely encouraging researchers and practitioners to limit the risks by highlighting human-centred AI. Poole and Mackworth are highly acclaimed experts who eagerly present their subject with enthusiasm and thoroughness.
-- Ben Shneiderman - University of Maryland, author of Human-Centered AI
Poole and Mackworth's book has been my go-to resource for students who need an introduction to Artificial Intelligence. While the previous versions have provided a complete overview of the field, the newer version organizes this information in a crystal clear manner. The division of the topics based on what the agent knows, what is in the world, and what the effects of its actions are allow for a logical flow of topics inside AI. As a comprehensive textbook for AI that includes slides, solutions, and code, this book is a must-have on the bookshelf for AI instructors, students, researchers, and practitioners.
-- Sriraam Natarajan - University of Texas at Dallas
An outstanding and lucid blast of fresh air, in a world that has lost contact with what AI should be about.
-- Gary Marcus - NYU, author of Rebooting AI