Science Fiction as an Introduction to AI Research
Judy Goldsmith, Nicholas Mattei · Proceedings of the AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence · 2021
The undergraduate computer science curriculum is generally focused on skills and tools; most students are not exposed to much research in the field, and do not learn how to navigate the research literature. We describe how science fiction reviews were used as a gateway to research reviews. Students learn a little about current or recent research on a topic that stirs their imagination, and learn how to search for, read critically, and compare technical papers on a topic related their chosen science fiction book, movie, or TV show.