OMSCS Spring 2025 Review

10 May, 2025

Le curtain falls on my second semester...

Before Summer classes officially begin tomorrow (though seasons remain theoretical concepts when you're living in Singapore's eternal summer), it's time for this kuma to hit pause and reflect on the highlights of my Spring semester at OMSCS, as well as a few meaningful moments that shaped the early chapters of 2025.

Semester Milestones: Double A's and Double AI

This semester, I dove into the yin and yang of artificial intelligence, specifically the high-level technical mechanics in Knowledge-Based AI (KBAI) and the ethical considerations that come with them in AI, Ethics and Society (AIES). My trusty rubber duck and Squirtle helped me debug my way to A's in both courses, which was equal parts relief and validation for this prugal student.

KBAI: Teaching Machines to Think (Or At Least Pretend To)

KBAI challenged me to think like an AI agent: incremental learning, breaking down problems, searching for solutions, and occasionally wondering if my own heuristics needed debugging. The revamped semester-long project was particularly fascinating as we moved from Raven's Progressive Matrices (reminiscent of those National Service psychometric tests on Figural Reasoning) to ARC-AGI puzzles, tackling 96 problems of varying difficulty across four milestones:

• Milestone A (easy): Solving at least 1 problem. Bonjour, AI world!
• Milestone B (easy): Solving at least 5 (out of 16) training and 5 (out of 16) test problems.
• Milestone C (medium): Solving at least 5 (out of 16) training and 5 (out of 16) test problems.
• Milestone D (difficult): Solving at least 5 (out of 16) training and 5 (out of 16) test problems.
• Final project: Culmination of all Milestones to solve as many of the 48 training and 48 test problems as possible.

While new ARC-AGI videos are in the works for future cohorts, we had to navigate a few pain points the hard way with minimal guidance at the start. Specifically, our pioneer batch had to design and implement bespoke solutions for a majority of the medium and difficult problems. Still, I'm rather proud of my final project score (69/96), which was certainly memorable and slightly higher than the median score (64). Kudos to the 2 students who achieved perfect score too!

Time for a spontaneous mini-quiz: How do I transform my score (69) to get a full score (96)?

1. Rotate my score by 180°
2. Mirror my score vertically
3. Mirror my score horizontally
4. All of the above
5. None of the above (I guess I can only work harder to solve more puzzles...)

Stayed tuned for the answer at the end!

Psst... Looking for a harder challenge? Try the various problems here and you might just solve the same puzzle I did in KBAI. A simple example is shown below (ARC Prize Foundation, 2025).

It was also quite humbling to be recognized twice for my Mini-Project 5 and Milestone D submissions. So glad my efforts paid off, and huge thanks to the entire instruction team for making this possible.

For those considering KBAI, here's a quick overview of the assessments this semester:

• 3 Homework Assignments: Written assignments with diagrams (Excalidraw/Lucidchart highly recommended for clarity).
• 5 Mini-Projects: Coding problems with reports on key concepts.
• ARC-AGI Project: Four milestones plus the final project.
• 2 Exams: Open-book, open-internet (similar to ML4T format).
• Class Participation: Between forum discussions, peer reviews (including beta-testing other platforms like Canvas, Turnitin, and Perusall), and optional mini-projects, I created a detailed tracker to ensure I hit my target score.

AIES and the AI Trolley Problem

Meanwhile, AIES provided a thoughtful counterbalance, forcing me to grapple with questions about fairness, transparency, and the impact of AI on society. The projects reminded me of Heicoders Academy's AI200 Applied Machine Learning course, but with a core focus on algorithmic bias detection and mitigation.

If nothing else, I now have a few more philosophical arguments ready for my next kopi chat, plus a renewed appreciation for the trolley dilemma, and the sticky exam question in China.

Beyond the Core Curriculum

Completed my First Seminar, CS 8001 ODL: NVIDIA-Certified Fundamentals of Deep Learning Workshop

This seminar was a nice introductory course into the world of neural networks and their real-world applications. Through the various workshops, I earned several NVIDIA certifications, including:

• Fundamentals of Deep Learning: Covers the basics of deep learning, including MLPs, CNNs, and transformers.
• Applications of AI for Anomaly Detection: Explores the use of AI for detecting anomalies in diverse datasets.
• Building AI-Based Cybersecurity Pipelines: Focuses on applying AI techniques to design cybersecurity pipelines.
• Generative AI with Diffusion Models: Examines the creative side of AI, from generating images to imagining new possibilities.
• Building RAG Agents with LLMs (additional suggested course): Because who can resist tinkering with Retrieval-Augmented Generation and large language models?

Participated in Google's 5-Day Gen AI Intensive Course

If you ever wanted to sprint through the latest developments in generative AI, Google’s 5-day intensive course is the way to do it. It was a whirlwind tour of cutting-edge tools, frameworks, and best practices, with seven insightful whitepapers (and podcasts) and a capstone project at the end.

For mine, I built a simple Financial News Analyzer that examines and summarizes financial news across images, videos and audios. Overall, I left with a notebook full of ideas, a new indispensable tool (NotebookLM), and a healthy respect for anyone who can keep up with Google’s pace. My rubber duck looked exhausted by day three!

OMS Singapore Meetups: CNY Community and Rumble the Night

This semester also brought two OMS Singapore gatherings on February 4th and April 24th. These meetups were a great chance to connect with fellow students and alumni, exchange stories, and realize that, yes, everyone else is also juggling deadlines, projects, and the eternal quest for good coffee (and networking opportunities).

There's something uniquely comforting about meeting others who understand the peculiar challenges of remote learning while living in the Little Red Dot. La communauté makes the journey much more bearable.

A Personal Farewell: In Memory of My Grandmother

Amidst all the academic milestones, life reminded me of its fragility and grace. On May 5th, my grandma passed away peacefully, and we rushed back to Malaysia to see her off one last time. As part of the wake, we (unintentionally) kept 守夜 (shǒu yè), an overnight vigil, and found comfort in each other's presence, honoring her life and quietly reflecting on the love and strength she gave us. The experience was both solemn and deeply moving, a final act of filial piety and remembrance.

Her warmth, wisdom, and quiet strength have always been a guiding force in our lives. While this chapter brings sadness, it’s also filled with gratitude for the memories and values she leaves behind. It’s a poignant reminder to cherish time with loved ones, both near and far, present and remembered.

Today, on Mother’s Day, these feelings resonate even more deeply. I’m reminded that the love and care of those who raised us continue to shape our lives long after they’re gone. To capture this sentiment, I’m sharing a touching scene from Violet Evergarden Episode 10, “Loved Ones Will Always Watch Over You”. In this episode, a mother’s love endures beyond her presence, offering comfort and guidance to her daughter even after her passing. It depicts a beautiful portrayal of how bonds of love transcend time and distance.

Whether you’re celebrating with your mother, remembering someone who’s passed, or honoring the mother figures who have shaped your journey, I wish you comfort, love, and gratitude. Happy Mother’s Day to all who nurture, guide, and inspire us.

Looking Ahead

With the upcoming tuition and fee increases looming for Fall 2025, I am considering whether to pursue 3+1 courses across two semesters instead of the usual two-per-semester pace. While this could save $264, the time commitment for three courses is daunting, especially with my High Key Reservist period, where I might be offline (and off-grid) for up to 16 days.

As the Summer semester beckons (and the equatorial sun keeps blazing), I’m grateful for the growth, the challenges, and the moments, both big and small, that have shaped the start of 2025. Here’s to new adventures, more learning, and the occasional debugging session with my trusty rubber duck and Squirtle.

Mini-Quiz Answer
None of the above (option 5).

As illustrated above, none of these transformations produce 96 as the number 69 has rotational symmetry. The only way to reach 96 is to treat each digit separately, or just work harder to solve more puzzles. Sometimes, the solution is just a change in perspective!

Stay tuned for more updates,
Chong Er 🐣 ฅʕᵔᴥᵔʔฅ