UMD Releases Syllabus for 'Generative AI Agents' Course
furongh · x · 2026-08-08
UMD Professor Furong Huang shares the syllabus for the Fall 2025 course CMSC848N: Generative AI Agents, noting a significantly improved version is coming this fall. A former student recently founded a YC-backed AI startup after taking the course.
Blending theory and practice, the course covers key modules including:
- LLMs & Reasoning Models: Chain-of-thought, MCTS, and efficient reasoning.
- RL & RLHF Foundations: DPO, GRPO, bilevel optimization, and alignment challenges.
- Self-Improvement & Safety: Ensemble strategies, robustness, jailbreak defenses, and watermarking.
- Agentive Workflows: Design patterns, communication graphs, web/code/tool-use agents, and orchestration.
- World Models: Agents for web, robotics, and simulation environments.
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