AI & Cognitive Science

The Science Festival provides the public with opportunities to explore and discuss issues of scientific interest and concern and to raise aspirations by encouraging young people to consider a career in science, technology, engineering or mathematics.

Each year, the Festival welcomes visitors to hundreds of events and receives extensive national and local media coverage. Over 170 event coordinators organise talks, interactive demonstrations, hands-on activities, film showings and debates with the assistance of around 1,000 staff and students from departments and organisations across the University and research institutions, charities and industry in the eastern region. In addition, over 150 people volunteer their time to act as stewards to ensure visitors have a safe and enjoyable Festival experience.

http://www.sciencefestival.cam.ac.uk/

Cambridge Science Festival 2016

cogcast

Podcasts

IBM Research and Memorial Sloan Kettering are investigating the use of cognitive computing-based visual analytics for skin cancer image analysis. IBM's technical coordinator for the collaboration, Dr. Noel Codella, discusses how the system "sees" cancer to help doctors better-identify cancers such as melanoma.
Read more here: http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/45710.wss

Using Cognitive Computing to Visually Analyze Skin Cancer

In episode eighteen we talk with Sham Kakade, of Microsoft Research New England, about his expansive work which touches on everything from neuroscience to theoretical machine learning. Ryan Introduces us to active learning and we take a question on evolutionary algorithms. 

Active Learning and Machine Learning in Neuroscience

Human-level (“general”) AI is more difficult to achieve than most people think. One key obstacle is relevance, a conceptual version of the frame problem. Another is lack of the semantic web. Yet another is the difficulty of computer vision. So artificial general intelligence (AGI) isn’t on the horizon. Possibly, it may never be achieved. No AGI means no Singularity.

Even so, there’s already plenty to worry about—and future AI advances will add more. Areas of concern include unemployment, computer companions, and autonomous robots (some, military). Worries about the (illusory) Singularity have had the good effect of waking up the AI community (and others) to these dangers. At last, they are being taken seriously.

Professor Margaret Boden is a world-leading academic in the study of intelligence, both artificial and otherwise. She is is Research Professor of Cognitive Science at the Department of informatics at the University of Sussex, where her work embraces the fields of artificial intelligence, psychology, philosophy, cognitive and computer science. She was the founding-Dean of Sussex University’s School of Cognitive and Computing Sciences, a pioneering centre for research into intelligence and the mechanisms underlying it — in humans, other animals, or machines. The School’s teaching and research involves an unusual combination of the humanities, science, and technology.

Professor Boden has also been an important participant in the recent international discussions over the long-term impacts of AI. She was a member of the AAAI’s 08/09 Presidential Panel on long-term AI futures (http://www.aaai.org/Organization/presidential-panel.php), and also took part in the recent Puerto Rico conference on the Future of AI, co-organised by CSER (http://futureoflife.org/misc/ai_conference); she is therefore uniquely well-placed to discuss near- and long-term prospects in AI. 

Human - Level AI- Is It Looming Or Illusory?

What if you could bring the best version of yourself to everything you do everyday? What if you could get the most out of your mind and brain -- or more scientifically, your "cognitive performance" -- without going to those old addictive standbys like coffee or RedBulls?

The promise of nootropics or cognitive enhancers is to help us work better and more productively (for example, through more stamina and working memory); stay more awake and alert (without the sudden jolt of coffee); sleep better; and even protect our brains against cognitive impairments or neuro diseases like Alzheimer's.

Geoffrey Woo and Michael Brandt, the founders of Nootrobox, believe that nootropics are possible for everyone -- not just for a select or hobbyist fringe of society -- and that part of that mainstreaming will involve a lot of hard science, hard data, and frankly, good user experience and better packaging of raw components ... the same things, in fact, that helped mainstream personal computers from the days of the early hacking at the Homebrew Club to Apple and the world of mass computing today. But how does nootropics move beyond a community movement ... and how does it fit into the context of other trends such as biohacking, quantified self, and more? Is the human body really the next 'platform'? All this and more on this episode of the a16z Podcast.

---

The views expressed here are those of the individual AH Capital Management, L.L.C. (“a16z”) personnel quoted and are not the views of a16z or its affiliates. Certain information contained in here has been obtained from third-party sources, including from portfolio companies of funds managed by a16z. While taken from sources believed to be reliable, a16z has not independently verified such information and makes no representations about the enduring accuracy of the information or its appropriateness for a given situation.
 
This content is provided for informational purposes only, and should not be relied upon as legal, business, investment, or tax advice. You should consult your own advisers as to those matters. References to any securities or digital assets are for illustrative purposes only, and do not constitute an investment recommendation or offer to provide investment advisory services. Furthermore, this content is not directed at nor intended for use by any investors or prospective investors, and may not under any circumstances be relied upon when making a decision to invest in any fund managed by a16z. (An offering to invest in an a16z fund will be made only by the private placement memorandum, subscription agreement, and other relevant documentation of any such fund and should be read in their entirety.) Any investments or portfolio companies mentioned, referred to, or described are not representative of all investments in vehicles managed by a16z, and there can be no assurance that the investments will be profitable or that other investments made in the future will have similar characteristics or results. A list of investments made by funds managed by Andreessen Horowitz (excluding investments and certain publicly traded cryptocurrencies/ digital assets for which the issuer has not provided permission for a16z to disclose publicly) is available at https://a16z.com/investments/.

Charts and graphs provided within are for informational purposes solely and should not be relied upon when making any investment decision. Past performance is not indicative of future results. The content speaks only as of the date indicated. Any projections, estimates, forecasts, targets, prospects, and/or opinions expressed in these materials are subject to change without notice and may differ or be contrary to opinions expressed by others. Please see https://a16z.com/disclosures for additional important information.

a16z Podcast: Nootropics and the Best Version of Your Brain, Yourself

Richard Grisenthwaite, Lead Architect and Fellow at ARM, talks about how the ARM architecture and the computing ecosystem it enables has changed in the 25 year history of ARM Ltd. Aimed at a technical audience, this talk looks at how the architecture has been influenced, sometimes in unexpected ways, by the changing environment and fashions, of the computing industry. It draws out some general lessons of the process of balancing the developments in hardware and software learnt from the progression of ARM to be one of the most popular architectures in the world. 

A history of the ARM architecture, and the lessons learned while building it

Do you think you make rational decisions? Think again... Ginny Smith turns your understanding of your brain upside down - and may even improve your decision-making! We'll be asking you to take part in some 'tricks of the mind' so please bring along an Internet-enabled device so you can play along with the show.


Your irrational brain: how we really make decisions

Your iTunes playlist may reveal more about you than you think. Science shows that the music we choose to listen to is not random. In fact, there is evidence that both our musical taste and abilities are tied to our personality and the way that we think. Dr David Greenberg explores how our preferences for musical genres and attributes map onto five different personality traits and three thinking styles. 

What does your musical taste say about your personality?

Can we build a machine that can solve any problem? How can we break a code others believe unbreakable? Why do leopards have spots and zebras stripes? These questions were all answered by Alan Turing. Mathematician James Grime explores Turing's childhood fascination with maths and how it led to the breaking of the infamous Enigma cipher. Including a demonstration of an original WWII Enigma Machine! 

Alan Turing and the Enigma Machine

While mathematicians are undoubtedly brilliant, there are still questions they can't answer. Every mathematical question is a puzzle and there'll be plenty of puzzles to chew on while mathematician Katie Steckles introduces questions that still leave mathematicians stumped, from simple-sounding number and shape problems to mind-bending fundamental questions. 

Maths' greatest unsolved puzzles

We live in a world surrounded by computers, and increasingly also robotics. But how do we get these machines to do what we want? Find out with Philip Garsed and Rachel Garsed in this fun and interactive demonstration, as they try to program their (suspiciously life-like...) robot to carry out a simple task. 

How to train your robot

What is intelligence? What is learning? Can we build computers and robots that learn? How much information does the brain store? How does mathematics help us answer these questions? Professor Zoubin Ghahramani takes us on a journey exploring these questions and leading us to the field of machine learning: the invisible algorithms underlying many of the tools we now use everyday.

Professor Ghahramani highlights some current areas of research at the frontiers of machine learning, including a project on developing an Automatic Statistician, and speculates on some of the future applications of computers that learn.

Zoubin Ghahramani is Professor of Information Engineering at the University of Cambridge, and the Cambridge Liaison Director of the Alan Turing Institute.


Intelligence and learning in brains and machines

How conscious is my dog? Can robots become conscious? Are people in a vegetative state conscious? Philosopher Professor Tim Crane and neuroscientist Dr Srivas Chennu look into our minds and wrestle with the meaning of what it is to be conscious. 

Brain, body and mind: new directions in the neuroscience and philosophy of consciousness

Alexandria Sage from Reuters explains how crumbling infrastructure is confusing self-driving cars.

Where's the lane? Self-driving cars confused by shabby U.S. roadways

Our multimedia producer Sara Levine chats with Robin Hanson, author of The Age of Em; Robert Repino, an editor in OUP’s Reference Department and author of Mort(e) from SoHo Press; Maggie Boden, author of AI: Its Nature and Future; and Steve Furber, Editor-in-Chief of The Computer Journal. Together, they explore the dichotomy between what is expected of artificial intelligence in the future and what is actually happening in the field today—including the use of AI to solve climate change and disease diagnosis issues and to provide us with better insight into the human mind. 

Music: Filaments by Podington Bear is licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 International License: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Podington_Bear/Inspiring/Filaments

© Oxford University Press

Learn More

Artificial Intelligence – Episode 35 – The Oxford Comment

On @designmatters, Debbie Millman interviews the celebrated writer and philosopher Alain De Botton about love, life, and everything in between.

Follow @designmatters for more invigorating conversations with artists, writers, designers, and other creative thinkers.

Background, context, and highlights: https://www.brainpickings.org/2016/06/27/alain-de-botton-the-course-of-love/

MORE

Design Matters: Alain De Botton

A record number of Cambridge academics took part in this year’s Hay Festival, one of the most prestigious literary festivals in the world. This was the eighth year running that the Series has formed part of the Festival. It featured a range of speakers, from experts on climate change, robotics, maternal health and risk to Classics, European politics, nuclear power, playfulness in education and digital media. The Series is part of the University of Cambridge’s commitment to public engagement. The Hay Festival ran from 26th May to 5th June 2016.

Susan Gathercole: Working memory in the here and now

Hannah Critchlow: Explore your mind

This episode of the Oxford Comment is the second in our two-part series in conjunction with the Benezit Dictionary of Artists. We resume our roundtable conversation at the New York office with artist Robert Whitman, Benezit Editor in Chief, Dr. Kathy Battista, and Experiments in Art and Technology Director Julie Martin, to discuss many of E.A.T.’s noteworthy and laudable undertakings. To learn more, our multimedia producer, Sara Levine, also interviews Dr. Julia Robinson, a Grove Dictionary of Art contributor and professor of Art History at New York University, about E.A.T.’s role in the development of the performance art medium in New York in the 1960s and 1970s. 

Music: Filaments by Podington Bear is licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 International License: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Podington_Bear/Inspiring/Filaments

© Oxford University Press