ENG2575 OL88 Technical Writing, Spring 2021

Summary of Yew-Soon Ong and Abhishek Gupta’s “Five Pillars of Artificial Intelligence Research”

TO: Prof. Ellis

From: Pranta Dutta

DATE: Feb 25 2021

Subject: 500-word Summary

The following is a 500-word summary of a peer-reviewed article about Five Pillars of Artificial Intelligence Research by Yew-Soon Ong and Abhishek Gupta. In the article, the authors discuss the basics elements of artificial life for sustainable AI. According to the authors, “Due to the accelerated development of AI technologies witnessed over the past decade, there is increasing consensus that the field is primed to have a significant impact on society as a whole” (Ong & Abhishek, 2019, p. 411).

The goal of Artificial intelligence (AI) was for machines to have equal intelligence to humans. However, it has surpassed that goal. With the help of machine learning, AI has managed to conquer human intelligence, such as IBM Watson winning the game of Jeopardy or the Alpha Zero algorithm defeating a world champion in a game of chess. Because of this, people believe that AI will have a significant impact on society. It has the potential to improve human decision-making in healthcare, economics, and governance. However, there are some challenges it must overcome.

The first, rationalizability of AI systems, A part of machine learning is deep natural learning. To an Artificial Intelligence, this is like a human brain. Its main criticism was that it was vague. Even though it accomplished remarkable predictions, it could not explain why certain inputs led to the projected output. It would need to have the ability to rationalize its interpretations and explanations. Otherwise, it could compromise the safety of lives where critical decisions are very crucial.

The second, the resilience of AI systems; Artificial Intelligence has passed human intelligence in some instances; however, it still lacks common sense. This means that it can be easily misleading. For example, if someone adds black and white stickers to a stop sign, AI may interpret it as a speed limit. This error can cause a traffic jam or an accident.

Third, reproducibility of AI Systems. To maintain the integrity of AI applications it is necessary to ensure reproducibility by designing & complying with standardize software requirements. One obstacle is the vast number of hyperparameters. Without experts in the hyperparameter selection, it may lead to poor results of the trained model. The community for open-source software development in Ai is growing. But there still is a need for software standards to be specified.

Fourth, the realism of AI systems. AI has shown great strength when it comes to human interaction, but one of the challenges AI faces is the development of a system. For example, every human has a different way of expressing themselves, such as speech, body language, and facial expressions. For AI to integrate well, it must develop its traits and personality.

Fifth, Responsibility of AI systems; As powerful as AI is at the moment, it still needs to have some level of responsibility. Without it, artificial intelligence can take over the world. AI will have to be programmed to comply with ethics and laws.

To conclude, AI has made a lot of progress in the time it has had. Given what we have seen, it will be incorporated into our society without a doubt. However, it is essential to make sure that AI covers all of the concepts mentioned above, from rationalizability to responsibility to function reliably and ethically in everyday life

References

Ong, Y.-S., & Gupta, A. (2019). AIR5: Five Pillars of Artificial Intelligence Research. IEEE Transactions on Emerging Topics in Computational Intelligence, 3(5), 411–415. https://doi.org/10.1109/tetci.2019.2928344

Lecture, Week 4

Remember to watch this week’s lecture and take notes on it before proceeding with the work described in the posts below, which cover the Expanded Definition project, the Weekly Writing Assignment, and submitting your 500-Word Summary project.

Stop by my office hours on Wednesday from 3:00-5:00pm with your questions, or email me at jellis at citytech.cuny.edu.

Outline for Expanded Definition Project, Week 4

During this week’s lecture, I discussed the following outline as a good model for you to follow while creating your own Expanded Definition essay. A good rule of thumb for your quoted material would be at least 2 cited definitions and 3 cited contextual sentences, but you might find having more definitions and more contextual sentences strengthen your essay. Remember to discuss, explain, and compare/contrast the quotes that you find to help your reader understand how these all relate to one another before endeavoring to write your working definition at the end of your essay.

Your Name's Expanded Definition of YOUR TERM

TO: Prof. Jason Ellis
FROM: Your Name
DATE: Due Date
SUBJECT: Expanded Definition of YOUR TERM

Introduction [Heading Level 2]
What is the purpose of this document? What term are you defining? How are you discussing the way it is defined and the way it is used in context? Describe a road map for what follows (definitions and context). This content should be published as paragraphs, unlike the heading for this section, which is a level 2 heading.

Definitions [Heading Level 2]
Quote several definitions of the term that you selected. Provide quotes and parenthetical citations for each definition, and include your sources in the References section at the end of the document. Each definition that you include deserves discussion in your words about what it means and how it relates to the other definitions that you include. Consider how they are alike, how are they different, who might use one versus another, etc.

Context [Heading Level 2]
Quote several sentences from a variety of sources that use the term in context. A range of sources would provide the best source material for your discussion of how the term is used in these contexts. For example, a quote from an academic journal or two, a quote from a newspaper or magazine, a quote from a blog, and a quote from social media would give you a range of uses that might have different audiences. For each quote, you should devote at least as much space as the quote discussing what it means in that context and how it relates to the other quotes in context. Each quote should be in quotes, have a parenthetical citation, and a bibliographic entry in your references at the end of your document.

Working Definition [Heading Level 2]
Based on the definitions that you quoted and discussed, and the contextual uses of the term that you quoted and discussed, write a working definition of the term that's relevant to your career field or major, which you will need to identify (this is the specific context for your working definition).

References [Heading Level 2]
Order your APA-formatted bibliographic references by the author's last name, alphabetically. In your posted version, they do not need a hanging indent. And, they should not be in a bulleted list.

Weekly Writing Assignment, Week 4

For this week’s Weekly Writing Assignment, compose a short memo (remember the memo header of TO, FROM, DATE, and SUBJECT) to Prof. Ellis with the subject, “Expanded Definition Research.” In the body of your memo, write and reflect on how and where you are finding sources for your Expanded Definition project. What databases and research websites are you using? Are you using The New York Times (signup for a free pass here) and Archive.org? No more than 250 words are needed. The main thing is to communicate to me that you are performing your due diligence to find useful definitions and contextual quotes of the term that you selected. Write your memo in your preferred word processor and then copy-and-paste your memo into a comment added to this post.

How to Submit Your 500-Word Summary, Week 4

Refer to this week’s lecture for more details on how to post your 500-Word Summary project to our OpenLab Course Site.

Below, I am including some screenshots to guide you through the process of creating a post for your 500-Word Summary.

To begin your own Post, login to OpenLab, navigate to our Course Site, mouseover the “+” icon, and click “Post.”

Before typing anything, look under Categories on the right and add a check next to “500-Word Summary.”

Click in the “Add Title” section to enter your title (e.g., Summary of Lin’s “3D Layering of Integrated Circuits”). Then, click in the “Start Writing” area and copy-and-paste your 500-Word Summary memo from your word processor into this area.

After copyediting your work to ensure everything is as you want it to be, click on “Publish” and then click “Publish” on the next screen. Verify that your post is live on the site by clicking on “ENG2575 Technical Writing” at the top center to return to our Course Site and then click on the down arrow next to Student Projects in the left menu and 500-Word Summary beneath it to see your project posted.

Lecture, Week 3

In Week 3’s lecture, we cover: Announcements/Housekeeping, Peer Review for the 500-Word Summary, the 750-1000-Word Expanded Definition Project, and this week’s homework (peer review) and Weekly Writing Assignment (beginning research for the Expanded Definition Project). Remember to watch the entire lecture and make notes before responding to Peer Review or the Weekly Writing Assignment. Also, office hours on Wednesday from 3:00-5:00pm via the link on the syllabus, or you can email me at jellis at citytech.cuny.edu with your questions.

Weekly Writing Assignment, Week 3

After watching this week’s lecture above, use this week’s Weekly Writing Assignment to begin your initial research on the next project: 750-1000-Word Expanded Definition Project. This is the second individually-based project in the class. The goal is to write 750-1000 words that provide an extended definition of a term relevant to your field of studies and/or future career. Below is the synopsis of the assignment from the syllabus:

Individual: 750-1000-Word Expanded Definition, 15%

Individually, you will write a 750-1000 word expanded definition of a technical or scientific term, with cover memo, which demonstrates: 1. correct memorandum format. 2. knowledge of the etymology and historical development of the term. 3. examples of the term’s use in various written contexts. 4. ability to compare and contrast various uses of the term. 5. use and citation of sources with proper attribution. 6. awareness of audience. At least three library-sourced citations are required and should be cited following APA format.

As detailed and explained in this week’s lecture, your Weekly Writing Assignment this week is an opportunity to begin your research, settle on a term to focus on, and find three quotes that you might use in your project. With that in mind, add a comment to this post with the following before next week:

Begin with a short paragraph that begins with a statement about three possible terms that you considered and performed cursory research on for your project and concludes with the one term out of the three candidates that you ultimately decided to focus your expanded definition project on.
After using the library’s databases and reference guide shown in this week’s lecture, perform more focused research on the single term that you selected and copy-and-paste three quotes–each quote must come from a different source (e.g., one from a dictionary, one from an encyclopedia, and one from an ebook, or all three from different dictionaries, or all three from three different encyclopedias, or all three from journal articles, etc. All combinations will yield quotes that you might use in your expanded definition essay).
After each quote, write an APA bibliographic reference for your selection.
As always, write your Weekly Writing Assignment in a word processor, save your work, and then copy-and-paste it into a comment added to this post.
Remember to rely on the Purdue Owl APA Guide (and its sections listed on the left menu), and the APA Style Guide’s Dictionary References Guide.

Continuing 500-Word Summary Project, Peer Review, Week 3

As we begin to wrap up the 500-Word Summary Project, we will use peer review to request and receive feedback from your peers in the class. This serves two purposes: 1) you get experience working with the writing of others, which improves your writing ability through this critical engagement, and 2) you receive invaluable feedback and suggestions on how to improve your own writing from others.

To perform peer review on this assignment, do the following after watching this week’s lecture above:

Watch for an email on Wednesday from Prof. Ellis to you and your teammates.
- Choose to “Reply All” to this email. This will send a single reply message to all recipients of the original email, which includes your teammates and Prof. Ellis.
- Open with a salutation to everyone.
- Introduce yourself to your team (major, career goals, hobbies).
- Write a message to your team–ask for feedback and offer to provide feedback.
- Copy-and-paste your 500-summary below your message.
- Give a closing and signature (Best, Your Name or Cheers, Your Name).
As you receive emails from your team:
- Read their 500-Word Summary
- Click “Reply All” to their message
- Write a brief email (Salutation, Body, Closing)
- In the body:
  - What works best
  - What needs improvement
  - Quote one random sentence and rewrite
    it as a suggestion
Remember to be polite, understanding, work through problems, be considerate, be the bigger person if there are any misunderstandings.
Feel free to use your emails for discussion about the project and your team, but keep all discussion professional and appropriate.
Reach out to Prof. Ellis if there are any unsolvable problems within your team at any point during the semester.

Announcement: WAC Workshop on Plagiarism, Thurs., Feb. 18, 1-2pm

City Tech’s Writing Across the Curriculum program is offering a free workshop on what is plagiarism and how to avoid it. This is highly recommended but not required (we will be talking about plagiarism throughout the semester, too). Details are below:

Avoiding Plagiarism: A Workshop for Students

Plagiarism can be less obvious than you think, especially in an online environment. This workshop will give you practical information and strategies to ensure your writing assignments are plagiarism-free.
 
When: Thurs, Feb 18, 2021, 1-2 pm
Where: Zoom 
 
Students register in advance for this workshop:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYlcuisqDwiGdCAM6NjOX1bx7qOGExOV-wa
 
After registering, a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting will be sent.

Lecture, Week 2

Greetings, all! Here’s the lecture for the second week of Technical Writing. In this week’s lecture, I review some points about the class and syllabus, discuss what is technical writing, and show you how to transform your reverse outline into the first draft of your 500-Word Summary project. While you watch this week’s lecture, remember to have your notebook out to write notes. Then, scroll down and complete the Weekly Writing Assignment and 500-Word Summary homework described in the two posts below.

Remember, I will have office hours on Wednesday from 3:00pm-5:00pm (the link to the Google Hangout is at the top of the syllabus). Also, you can email me at jellis at citytech.cuny.edu with your questions or to make an appointment to meet with me at another time.

Be well and stay safe!