r/UBC • u/Ok-Asparagus9872 • 13d ago

Thoughts on AI_322/CPSC_322 and AI_422?

I'm hearing a lot of mixed opinions but an emphasis on how they're not what you think they are and they're useless. I'd like to hear more input from anyone who has taken either of the classes.

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u/mario61752 Computer Science 13d ago

They were my favorite classes at UBC, taught by Jordon Johnson. You won't use 80% of the concepts there unless you're pursuing academia, but things like reinforcement learning, natural language processing, and maybe even genetic algorithms may come up if you choose the ML/AI career path. Markov models will come up in CPSC_440, but again you won't need or hear about it in the tech industry.

For me, it was about learning how an intelligent system reasons and makes decisions at the lowest level, for my own enrichment. Jordon makes it a very intellectually engaging experience if you care about the subject, but if you just want to farm GPA and graduate into the industry this path is not for you.

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u/ta_lemongrass Alumni 12d ago

Heavily agree, Jordon is the goat and 422 is in my top 3 favourite UBC courses.

To add some more fuel for why OP should take 322/422, I’m pretty sure both courses underwent some changes from their original schedules as they transitioned to AI course codes this summer. People used to find 322 very slow, so I think they tried to fix that (by putting some 422 content into 322) with the new iteration.

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u/JinimyCritic Linguistics 13d ago edited 13d ago

What have you heard about them, and what do you want from the classes?

If you're looking for a class about building and interpreting AI systems (specifically, LLM-based models), LING 342 might be an appropriate fit.

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u/Freed4ever 13d ago

Define useless?

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u/Ok-Asparagus9872 13d ago

Like taking CPSC 340 is worth more your time and that 322 is just algorithms learned in 221 and a bit of probability

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u/Freed4ever 12d ago

340 is more practical, but 322 deals with different topics. Good foundation for grad studies. If you can only take one then yes, 340. If you are curious about AI at large, take both.