ECT Brownbag:
W. Russell Neuman
Next Generation Artificial Intelligence
When: Thursday, April 4, 2024 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm EST
370 Jay St, Room 522
Scientists and engineers have been working diligently on various models of artificial intelligence since 1955. Nobody was paying much attention (other than a few chess matches and a Jeopardy episode) until ChatGPT exploded onto the scene in the fall of 2022. Now we all have some questions. After a brief and non-technical review of how Large Language Models work, Prof. Neuman will take the long view -- Is Eliezer Yudkowsky correct in arguing that superintelligent agents will ultimately kill us all? Is there a practical way to align AI systems with human values? Is it possible that AI could actually augment human intelligence? Scientists and engineers have been working diligently on various models of artificial intelligence since 1955. Nobody was paying much attention (other than a few chess matches and a Jeopardy episode) until ChatGPT exploded onto the scene in the fall of 2022. Now we all have some questions. After a brief and non-technical review of how Large Language Models work, Prof. Neuman will take the long view -- Is Eliezer Yudkowsky correct in arguing that superintelligent agents will ultimately kill us all? Is there a practical way to align AI systems with human values? Is it possible that AI could actually augment human intelligence?
About the speaker
W. Russell Neuman is a specialist in new media and digital education and the Professor of Media Technology in Administration, Leadership, and Technology at New York University. He was the John Derby Evans Professor of Media Technology in Communication Studies and Research Professor at the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan and also taught at the University of Pennsylvania where he directed the Information and Society Program of the Annenberg Public Policy Center. He served as a Senior Policy Analyst in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy working in the areas of information technology, broadband policy and technologies for border security. His recent books include The Digital Difference: Media Technology and the Theory of Communication Effects (Harvard University Press, 2016), Media, Technology, and Society: Theories of Media Evolution (University of Michigan Press, 2010). He also taught at Harvard and Yale and was one of the founding faculty of the MIT Media Laboratory. His Ph.D. is from the University of California, Berkeley and his undergraduate degree is from Cornell University. Professor Neuman’s teaching and research focus on educational outcomes, information overload, information economics, modalities of learning, learning assessment and learning outside the classroom.