In 2011, the book Thinking, Fast and Slow introduced a fundamental concept in human cognition: we operate using two modes of thinking and problem-solving:
- Fast Thinking (System 1): Intuitive, automatic, and subconscious—like recognizing a face or driving a familiar route.
- Slow Thinking (System 2): Deliberate, logical, and effortful—like solving a math problem or planning a strategy.
Modern AI, particularly deep learning, excels at System 1 tasks but struggles with reasoning, abstraction, and decision-making—key aspects of System 2 thinking.
This course, System 2, explores AI techniques beyond deep learning to enable structured reasoning and problem-solving. Topics include:
- Neurosymbolic methods
- Program synthesis
- Test-time computation/adaptation
- RL-integrated LLMs
- LLMs & Abstraction
- Agentic LLMs
- Compositionality
MohammadHossein Sameti
Omid Ghahroodi
Amir Mohammad Izadi
Payam Taebi
Mehrdad Salehi
Ali Abdollahi
Parham Rezaei
Please be in touch with us through the Telegram channel at https://t.me/system2_spring2025. For necessary cases, contact the instructors or the head TA via email. Make sure to use a clear subject line and include your name and student ID. To facilitate identification by the instructional team, we strongly recommend using the Sharif webmail service.
- Prof. Rohban (Instructor): rohban@sharif.edu
- Prof. Soleymani (Instructor): soleymani@sharif.edu
- Mr. Samiei (Instructor): mm.samiei@sharif.edu
- Mr. Marioriyad (Head TA): arash.marioriyad98@sharif.edu
Essential: Deep Learning
Recommended: Planning and Neurosymbolic AI
Classes are held on Sundays and Tuesdays from 15:00 to 16:30 (UTC+3:30) in Room 201, Department of Computer Engineering, Sharif University of Technology.
Please note that grades will be calculated out of 20.0,
with the respective grades for each section provided below:
- Final Exam: 6 points.
- Quiz: 4 points.
- Homework & Projcet: 7 points.
- Poster Session: 3 points.
There is no midterm exam. The final exam will be held on June 12, 2025, at 14:30 (UTC+3:30).
There will be four quizzes, all scheduled for 12:00 PM (UTC+3:30).
- Quiz 1: Sessions 1 to 10 - April 8, 2025.
- Quiz 2: Sessions 11 to 15 - April 29, 2025.
- Quiz 3: Sessions 16 to 19 - May 13, 2025.
- Quiz 4: Sessions 20 to 24 - June 3, 2025.
There will be four homework assignments in this course, all to be submitted via the Quera Website. You have an additional two days after the deadline for late submissions. Throughout the semester, you are allowed a total of five days of delayed submissions without penalty. Beyond this limit, a 1% deduction will be applied to the assignment grade for every hour of further delay. Due to the tight schedule, no deadline extensions will be granted during the semester.
- HW 1: Sessions 1 to 10 - From March 18, 2025 to April 11, 2025.
- HW 2: Sessions 11 to 18 - From April 14, 2025 to May 9, 2025.
- HW 3: Sessions 19 to 24 - From May 12, 2025 to May 30, 2025.
- HW 4: Sessions 25 to 28 - From June 2, 2025 to June 27, 2025.
Details about the project will be announced soon!
Cheating or copying homework assignments will not be tolerated. On the first offense, you will be referred to the committee and will fail the course. Please review the Education Committee's guidelines on homework integrity.
| Date | Topic | Instructor | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
:
1 |
Date:
Sun, Bahman 21 |
Topic:
Introduction & Motivation |
Instructor:
Dr. Rohban & Mr. Samiei |
|
:
2 |
Date:
Tue, Bahman 23 |
Topic:
Introduction & Motivation |
Instructor:
Dr. Rohban & Mr. Samiei |
|
:
3 |
Date:
Sun, Bahman 28 |
Topic:
Introduction & Motivation |
Instructor:
Dr. Rohban & Mr. Samiei |
|
:
4 |
Date:
Tue, Bahman 30 |
Topic:
NeuroSymbolic |
Instructor:
Dr. Rohban |
|
:
5 |
Date:
Sun, Esfand 5 |
Topic:
NeuroSymbolic |
Instructor:
Dr. Rohban |
|
:
6 |
Date:
Tue, Esfand 7 |
Topic:
NeuroSymbolic |
Instructor:
Dr. Rohban |
|
:
7 |
Date:
Sun, Esfand 12 |
Topic:
NeuroSymbolic |
Instructor:
Dr. Rohban |
|
:
8 |
Date:
Tue, Esfand 14 |
Topic:
Program Synthesis |
Instructor:
Mr. Samiei |
|
:
9 |
Date:
Sun, Esfand 19 |
Topic:
Program Synthesis |
Instructor:
Mr. Samiei |
|
:
10 |
Date:
Tue, Esfand 21 |
Topic:
Program Synthesis |
Instructor:
Mr. Samiei |
|
:
11 |
Date:
Sun, Farvardin 17 |
Topic:
LLM & Test Time Computation |
Instructor:
Mr. Samiei |
|
:
12 |
Date:
Tue, Farvardin 19 |
Topic:
LLM & Test Time Computation |
Instructor:
Mr. Samiei |
|
:
13 |
Date:
Sun, Farvardin 24 |
Topic:
LLM & Test Time Computation |
Instructor:
Dr. Soleymani |
|
:
14 |
Date:
Tue, Farvardin 26 |
Topic:
LLM & Test Time Computation |
Instructor:
Dr. Soleymani |
|
:
15 |
Date:
Sun, Farvardin 31 |
Topic:
LLM & Test Time Adaptation |
Instructor:
Dr. Rohban |
|
:
16 |
Date:
Tue, Ordibehesht 2 |
Topic:
LLM & RL |
Instructor:
Dr. Soleymani |
|
:
17 |
Date:
Sun, Ordibehesht 7 |
Topic:
LLM & RL |
Instructor:
Dr. Soleymani |
|
:
18 |
Date:
Tue, Ordibehesht 9 |
Topic:
LLM & RL |
Instructor:
Dr. Soleymani |
|
:
19 |
Date:
Sun, Ordibehesht 14 |
Topic:
LLM & Abstraction |
Instructor:
Dr. Soleymani |
|
:
20 |
Date:
Tue, Ordibehesht 16 |
Topic:
Reasoning with KGs |
Instructor:
Dr. Rohban |
|
:
21 |
Date:
Sun, Ordibehesht 21 |
Topic:
Reasoning with KGs |
Instructor:
Dr. Rohban |
|
:
22 |
Date:
Tue, Ordibehesht 23 |
Topic:
Reasoning with KGs |
Instructor:
Dr. Rohban |
|
:
23 |
Date:
Sun, Ordibehesht 28 |
Topic:
LLM Agenst |
Instructor:
Dr. Rohban |
|
:
24 |
Date:
Tue, Ordibehesht 30 |
Topic:
LLM Agenst |
Instructor:
Dr. Rohban |
|
:
25 |
Date:
Sun, Khordad 4 |
Topic:
Compositionality |
Instructor:
Dr. Soleymani |
|
:
26 |
Date:
Tue, Khordad 6 |
Topic:
Compositionality |
Instructor:
Dr. Soleymani |
|
:
27 |
Date:
Sun, Khordad 11 |
Topic: | Instructor: |
|
:
28 |
Date:
Sun, Khordad 13 |
Topic: | Instructor: |