Colloquium d’Informatique de Sorbonne Université
Eric Horvitz

Wednesday, June 20, 2018 18:00
Amphi Farabœuf aux Cordeliers Sorbonne University - Faculté des Sciences

AI Aspirations and Advances

Eric Horvitz is a technical fellow and director of Microsoft Research. His lifelong curiosity about brains and minds fuels his pursuit of principles of computational intelligence. Beyond theory, his has worked to field AI advances in the open world, with the joint goals of exploring the behavior of systems in realistic settings and of developing applications that can enhance the quality of peoples' lives. His efforts and collaborations include work to better understand the influences of AI on people and society, including challenges with robustness and safety, biases and fairness, and rising questions about the ethical implications of new forms of automation. He received the Feigenbaum Prize and the Allen Newell Prize for contributions to the field of artificial intelligence and has been elected fellow of the AAAI, ACM, NAE and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He has served as president of the AAAI, and on advisory committees for the National Science Foundation, the National Academy of Sciences, the National Institutes of Health, and DARPA. He received his PhD and MD at Stanford University. Additional background and publications can be accessed at http://erichorvitz.com.

Abstract

Artificial intelligence is at an inflection point, powered by a confluence of several factors, including leaps in computational capabilities, growth in data resources, and advances in algorithms. After sharing reflections about the long-term pursuit of artificial intelligence, I will focus on recent developments in AI and on opportunities and hard challenges ahead. I will discuss key aspirations spanning theory and practice, including the pursuit of more general artificial intelligence, the mastery of human-AI collaboration, and on understanding and addressing the influences of AI advances on people and society.