85-414 Cognition in the Age of AI
9 units, Carnegie Mellon University
Advances in artificial intelligence and internet-scale datasets have transformed our everyday lives. In this course, we will learn about ways that AI and large datasets are also transforming what we know about the human mind and brain. We will discuss recent research that uses tools like deep convolutional neural networks and large language models as "model systems" for investigating human cognition, and what we can learn by comparing model outputs against real human data. We will also examine the rise of big datasets in neuroscience and psychology, and how these datasets are enabling powerful applications of machine learning to the study of human cognition. These methods enable us to critically evaluate the alignment between deep neural networks and humans, to build better computational models of human brain activity, and to decode rich visual and semantic information from brain recordings. Throughout the course, we will consider how AI tools are opening up progress on core research questions in psychology and neuroscience, such as how perception unfolds within complex natural environments, how we comprehend language, and how we learn about the world through experience. The course format will involve weekly readings and discussion, along with hands-on coding exercises in Python.
Prerequisites: (85-219 or 85-102 or 85-241 or 85-213 or 85-211 or 85-100 or 85-104 or 85-170 or 85-190 or 85-130 or 85-221 or 85-110) and (15-110 or 15-112)
Offered: Spring 2027, Fall 2026, Spring 2026, Fall 2025
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