Grading

Homework Assignments (70% total)

The goal of the assignments in this class is to build a complete, working image generative model system with the functionality of your choice. Think of it as leveling up in a game — we all start by learning the basic controls in the beginner’s village, and as we progress, we get to choose different paths in the skill tree to specialize in. By the end of the training, we’ll all become the seasoned warriors, mages, or assassins we aspire to be!

Therefore, the homework assignments are cumulative: we’ll all start with the same codebase and implement two fundamental algorithms in the first two homeworks — that’s like learning the basics in the beginner’s village. In the later two assignments, you’ll get to choose one of three specialization paths:

• Fidelity: improve image quality as much as possible.

• Controllability: make the model controllable by users.

• Speed: make inference as fast as possible without sacrificing too much quality.

Everyone will use the same dataset, and each path will have a shared evaluation criteria. You should be as creative with your solutions as possible, and to facilitate your creativity, all assignments will be open-internet, open-GitHub, and open-ChatGPT. Feel free to use any pre-trained models, open-sourced code and AI coding assistants, as long as you provide proper citations! However, you should implement your assignments alone and your resulting model must be novel, i.e. you can’t just replicate existing work. To receive full credit, your project should demonstrate originality and should simply, work.

You will have 6 late days in total and each assignment can use up to 2 late days. Late days cannot be used on final presentation poster submission.

In-Class Quizzes (15% total)

There will be seven short (<= 10 minutes) in-class quizzes. The lowest two scores will be dropped, and each quiz counts for 3% of your total grade. There won’t be any trick questions – the quizzes are designed to check your basic understanding of the topics we cover in class.

All quizzes will be closed-book and closed-internet, and you should complete each one on your own. Attendance outside of quizzes and the final presentation week is not mandatory, i.e. feel free to take the quiz, then leave and watch the recording at your own pace if that works better for you.

Final Presentation (15%)

Show off your completed image generative models and check out your classmates’ projects during the final week of class! You’ll need to both present your own work and attend both final presentation sessions to receive full credit.

Detailed logistics will be announced later.

Course Policies

As we have mentioned before, the majority of this class is open-everything and ChatGPT-friendly. Therefore,

✅ You may:

• Use open-source repositories and code as references
• Use any available pre-trained models in your development
• Read research papers, textbooks, and tutorials for inspiration
• Use generative AI tools (ChatGPT, Cursor, Copilot, etc.) in your assignments
• Discuss with classmates

✅ You should:

• Complete each assignment independently
• Cite all resources and references used (including AI tools)
• Clearly indicate which code is yours vs. adapted from other humans or AIs

❌ Please don’t:

• Copy code directly from classmates
• Claim other humans’ or AIs’ work as your own
• Plagiarize from any source without attribution

Violations will result in course failure.

The following message regarding our supports for mental health, diversity and students with disabilities is adapted from 10401/10601 Spring 2025.

Accommodations for Students with Disabilities

If you have a disability and have an accommodations letter from the Disability Resources office, please email the Education Associate Nichelle Phillips at nichellp[at]andrew.cmu.edu requesting to set up a meeting with them to discuss your accommodations and needs as early in the semester as possible. The EAs will work with you to ensure that accommodations are provided as appropriate. If you suspect that you may have a disability and would benefit from accommodations but are not yet registered with the Office of Disability Resources, I encourage you to contact them at access@andrew.cmu.edu.

Mental Health Support

Take care of yourself. Do your best to maintain a healthy lifestyle this semester by eating well, exercising, avoiding drugs and alcohol, getting enough sleep and taking some time to relax. This will help you achieve your goals and cope with stress.

All of us benefit from support during times of struggle. You are not alone. There are many helpful resources available on campus and an important part of the college experience is learning how to ask for help. Asking for support sooner rather than later is often helpful.

If you or anyone you know experiences any academic stress, difficult life events, or feelings like anxiety or depression, we strongly encourage you to seek support. Counseling and Psychological Services (CaPS) is here to help: call 412-268-2922 and visit their website at http://www.cmu.edu/counseling/. Consider reaching out to a friend, faculty or family member you trust for help getting connected to the support that can help.

If you or someone you know is feeling suicidal or in danger of self-harm, call someone immediately, day or night:

• CaPS: 412-268-2922
• Re:solve Crisis Network: 888-796-8226
• If the situation is life threatening, call the police:
  • On campus: CMU Police: 412-268-2323
  • Off campus: 911. If you have questions about this or your coursework, please let the instructors know.

Diversity

We must treat every individual with respect. We are diverse in many ways, and this diversity is fundamental to building and maintaining an equitable and inclusive campus community. Diversity can refer to multiple ways that we identify ourselves, including but not limited to race, color, national origin, language, sex, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, creed, ancestry, belief, veteran status, or genetic information. Each of these diverse identities, along with many others not mentioned here, shape the perspectives our students, faculty, and staff bring to our campus. We, at CMU, will work to promote diversity, equity and inclusion not only because diversity fuels excellence and innovation, but because we want to pursue justice. We acknowledge our imperfections while we also fully commit to the work, inside and outside of our classrooms, of building and sustaining a campus community that increasingly embraces these core values.

Each of us is responsible for creating a safer, more inclusive environment.

Unfortunately, incidents of bias or discrimination do occur, whether intentional or unintentional. They contribute to creating an unwelcoming environment for individuals and groups at the university. Therefore, the university encourages anyone who experiences or observes unfair or hostile treatment on the basis of identity to speak out for justice and support, within the moment of the incident or after the incident has passed. Anyone can share these experiences using the following resources:

Center for Student Diversity and Inclusion: csdi@andrew.cmu.edu, (412) 268-2150 Report-It online anonymous reporting platform: reportit.net username: tartans password: plaid All reports will be documented and deliberated to determine if there should be any following actions. Regardless of incident type, the university will use all shared experiences to transform our campus climate to be more equitable and just.

This syllabus is subject to change.