Fall 2026

Can Machines Think?: the History of Artificial Intelligence, 1650-present

Introduces key historical, technological and scientific episodes in the history of artificial intelligence (AI) in a gently technical manner.

no offering record for this termCredits unavailable
Recorded instructors · Fall 2026 No instructors listed

Summary

No student feedback recorded yet.

Grade history

average GPA
letter grades

No recorded grade history.

All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

Prerequisites

Course map

Sophomore standing

  • Sophomore standing
HISTSCI/ILS 330

This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.

Prerequisite text tree
  • Sophomore standing

Professors

Fall 2026

No instructors recorded for this selection.

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Calendar & sections

Fall 2026

Schedule loads here as you scroll.

SectionModeEnrolled / capacityWaitlist

Times are Central. Select a meeting for details; export includes recorded dates for the selected sections.

Meeting source records

No records available.

Student experience

the class

Introduces key historical, technological and scientific episodes in the history of artificial intelligence (AI) in a gently technical manner. No technical knowledge is expected; gain familiarity with technical aspects of AI in parallel with studying it from a social and historical perspective. Introduces the range of ideas and technical models for artificial intelligence that have existed before, and alongside Machine Learning and large language models (LLMs), and emphasizes the connection of historical AI projects to their broader cultural, intellectual, and scientific context. In describing historical models of AI, shows: 1) the regularity of many core controversies surrounding the pursuit of artificial intelligence over time (including its profound significance for science, work, and human values, ties to commerce and government) and 2) the importance of history as a repository for approaches to AI and computing research.

difficulty & workload

No workload feedback recorded.

Topics

  • Historical ideas and technical models of AI, including Machine Learning and LLMs
  • Core controversies surrounding the pursuit of artificial intelligence
  • Significance of AI for science, work, human values, commerce, and government
  • History as a repository for approaches to AI and computing research

Skills

  • Familiarity with technical aspects of AI
  • Studying AI from a social and historical perspective
  • Connecting historical AI projects to cultural, intellectual, and scientific context

Grades

Instructor

Grade distribution · % of letter grades

No grades available yet.

More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data

Sources & history

UW–Madison

Catalog & offerings

Descriptions, prerequisites, and recorded course offerings.

Catalog observation history

Observations at scan time; dates do not imply when a catalog change took effect.

Selected offering source records

No offering records for the selected term.

Raw records
[]
Rate My Professors

Student reviews

Original comments behind the course and instructor summaries.

Read original reviews

No records available.

Madgrades

Grade history

Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.

Explore recorded grades
Model outputs & technical records
nvidia/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-NVFP4
LLM outputs across runs
Full model traces

Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.

Model & dataset provenance
{
  "model": "nvidia/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-NVFP4",
  "model_revision": "1355db6a052410cfd62085d94b58866fd0f2c3c5",
  "task_version": "14",
  "output_id": "1064b50f95563b2515b6ae60ed2b864178d9fb026b864474e8ba0cd3cbb1a0bb",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "e243353dcb7d79b7247ced91d69443ef4c2a6349",
  "observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00"
}