Graduate Certificate in Artificial Intelligence for Military Use
Curricula 128 and 129
Computer Science Department, Naval Postgraduate School
Program Overview
� This is a four-course sequence offered by distance learning (videoconferencing) in four successive quarters or in residence at NPS.� Courses earn graduate-school credit.
� The goal is provide military professionals and civilians with basic understanding of artificial-intelligence capabilities to enable good decisions on procurement, implementation, and application of artificial-intelligence technology.
� The focus is on the software concepts and technical details that can best support military operations and why.
� A Bachelor�s degree is required and some high-school algebra.� However, students must be prepared to encounter some new mathematics.� We send admitted students a test with answers for them to check their mathematics knowledge in advance.
� Some laboratory exercises will use artificial-intelligence tools, but the curriculum does not require programming.� However, students with programming experience can do projects using their knowledge.
� This curriculum supports the Federal Training and Development of Artificial Intelligence program.
Administrative Details
� Students apply for the program through the NPS Admissions Office.� Curriculum 128 is for distance learning, and curriculum 129 is for on-campus students, but classes are shared between them.
� The program is offered in four successive quarters starting in either the Spring quarter or the Fall quarter. The applicant should specify on their application in what quarter they want to start.� Currently we open for admissions on October 1 for the cohort starting in the Spring quarter, and on April 1 for the cohort starting in the Fall quarter, and we accept applications until the cohort is full.
� The first course is on video, and the students can watch it when they like.� Lectures for the subsequent courses are given by Teams videoconferencing software.� Lecture times for them have been 1700-1900 PDT (2000-2200 EDT) on Tuesdays and Thursdays.� Lectures can be viewed while they are given (and questions will be fielded), but they are also recorded for later viewing by those who miss them.� No travel is required for this program.
� Completion of the four courses yields an Academic Certificate in Artificial Intelligence for Military Use.
o The certificate requires about 360 hours of total work over the four courses, including lectures, readings, homework, and test preparation.
o The courses total 13 graduate credit hours, 8 at the 3000 (introductory graduate) level, and 5 at the 4000 (advanced graduate) level.� Four credit hours means four lecture hours per week plus around six hours of work outside class per week.
� Students must be in the U.S. military, be U.S. Federal government employees, or be students at the Naval Postgraduate School campus.� Contractors are not eligible.
� NPS distance learning programs are described at DL Programs. The NPS Admissions Office and admissions@nps.edu, can explain how to apply. �Generally we need applications for admissions from October 1 through the middle of January to start in the Spring Quarter.� There may be an additional offering starting in Fall quarter in some years.
� Tuition is is free for active-duty personnel in the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marines, and for students in residence at the Naval Postgraduate School.� Tuition is $3500 for everyone else.� A student must be sponsored by their organization and the organization must have a Student Support Agreement with NPS; contact sponsorededucation@nps.edu if you have questions.
� Admission is good for a period of three years.� If a student must take a leave of absence due to deployment, medical, or other reasons, they should ask the Admissions Office to �pause� their program.� Generally, a deployment on a ship does not provide sufficient time to take a Certificate course.
� The Computer Science Department at NPS offers several on-campus curricula with coverage of artificial intelligence including a three-day short course, a two-year computer science degree with a specialization in artificial intelligence, and a one-year Master�s Degree specifically in artificial intelligence for students that already have a degree in computer science.
� NPS offers the degree Master of Applied Computing (curriculum 367) for achieving several (three or four, depending on the programs) distance-learning certificates approved by the Computer Science Department, which includes the AI for Military Use Certificate.
� Contact: Prof. Neil Rowe, ncrowe@nps.edu, (831) 656-2462, (831) 373-1732.
� Online copy of this document
Courses in the Certificate Program
� First quarter: CS4000 (0-2), Harnessing Artificial Intelligence.� This is a broad overview intended to answer the most frequent questions about AI.� It can be taken alone if a certificate is not desired, and it has no enrollment limits.� It is taught by different professors, and involves two hours a week.� It has weekly exercises and a final report is required.� It is delivered by videos and does not meet at a scheduled time. �Instructions for completing the course will be mailed to registered students in the first week of the quarter.�
� The remaining three courses are traditional graduate courses that have homework, tests, and projects.
� Second quarter: CS3331 (4-0), Basics of Applied Artificial Intelligence.� Basics of artificial-intelligence concepts illustrated with military examples.� Topics include knowledge representation, logical reasoning, probabilistic reasoning, heuristic search, agent-based systems, and social artificial intelligence.
� Third quarter: CS3332 (4-0), Applied Machine Learning. Survey of machine-learning techniques of artificial intelligence with a particular focus on military applications.� Topics include types of machine learning, training and testing of machine learning, data preparation, decision trees, Bayesian reasoning, linear models, neural networks, case-based reasoning, and reinforcement learning.� Each method will be related to important military and government applications.
� Fourth quarter: CS4333 (4-0), Current Directions in Artificial Intelligence. A survey of currently important topics in artificial intelligence by reading a presenting papers on it.� Topics include big-data management, advanced topics in neural networks, adversarial machine learning, explainability, testing and verification of artificial-intelligence systems, ethics and privacy issues in artificial intelligence, and other legal issues in artificial intelligence.