Computing Up

Latest Episodes:

James Tompkin Does Visual Computing Research - 58th Conversation Jun 04, 2022

Show notes

James Tompkin 🔗, assistant Professor of Computer Science at Brown University 🔗, joins Michael and Dave to talk about visual computing research writ large, with topics ranging from the relevance of traditional computer graphics in the era of machine learning, to differentiable rendering and neural radiance fields, to DALL-E 2 and remixing Hitchcock's "Rear Window" at the Museum of the Moving Image.

Ellie Pavlick: As Artificial Intelligence Meets Natural Language - 57th Conversation May 01, 2022

Show notes

Ellie Pavlick, Assistant Professor of Computer Science at Brown University (🔗) and Research Scientist at Google AI (🔗), joins Michael and Dave in a quick discussion of the remarkable new large AI language models. Topics range from what is and isn't known about the models, and by them, to if or how scared should we be of them, to what 'traditional' sciences like linguistics bring to artificial intelligence research and engineering.

[Image courtesy of Ellie Pavlick]

Andrew Critch on AI - 56th Conversation Apr 02, 2022

Show notes

Andrew Critch (🔗), a mathematician, AI researcher, organizer and activist (cofounder 🔗, researcher 🔗, cofounder 🔗), joins Michael and Dave for a fast-moving fifty minutes about existential risks (and opportunities) of AI and other technologies, the limits of intelligence, and the importance of structure at all scales and having a good spirit.

What is the Self Image? - 55th Conversation Mar 02, 2022

Show notes

Dave tries to explain why he thinks the best way to understand people and other living things is via computation and programming languages, via codebases and code transmissions. Michael tries to help Dave sound slightly sane.

[Image based on still frame from "We Are Coders"]

Bad Ideas and Dangerous Thoughts with Fiery Cushman - 54th Conversation Feb 07, 2022

Show notes

Fiery Cushman @fierycushman, professor of psychology at Harvard University 🔗, joins Michael and Dave in a wonderful conversation about morality seen both cognitively and computationally, with topics ranging from trolley problems and fake guns to the wisdom of the ancestors and the hubris of science to what makes moral thinking special.

[Title image courtesy of Fiery Cushman]

Neil Lawrence All Over the Map - 53rd Conversation Jan 01, 2022

Show notes

Neil Lawrence (home, @lawrennd), the DeepMind Professor of Machine Learning at the University of Cambridge, joins Michael and Dave for a rollicking hour discussing everything from cybernetics to machine learning, from oil rigs to New Jersey shopping malls, from inconsistent scientific reviewing to gods and robots and much more.

Talking Machines podcast

[Image courtesy of Neil Lawrence]

Carla Brodley: From Machine Learning to Inclusive Computing - 52nd Conversation Dec 04, 2021

Show notes

Carla Brodley, professor and Dean of Inclusive Computing at Northeastern University (link), talks to Michael and Dave about applying Machine Learning to real problems from computer security to medicine, and how to move the needle for diversity, equity, access, and belonging in Computer Science education.

[Title image courtesy of Carla Brodley]

Karen Levy Keeps On Trucking - 51st Conversation Nov 01, 2021

Show notes

Karen Levy, assistant professor in Information Science at Cornell University, joins Michael and Dave in a conversation ranging from AI, law, and smart contracts to CB radio, Road Dog Trucking, and Santa's narcs.

Anita Nikolich: From Three Letter Agency to AI Security - 50th Conversation Oct 02, 2021

Show notes

Anita Nikolich, Director of Research and Technology Innovation at the University of Illinois School of Information Sciences (webpage), joins Michael and Dave in a conversation ranging over decades and disciplines, from computer network security and the DEFCON hacker conferences to creating games for teaching about mis- and dis-information.

[Title image courtesy of Anita Nikolich]

More than Games with Michael Bowling - 49th Conversation Sep 06, 2021

Show notes

Michael Bowling, professor of Computer Science at the University of Alberta, talks with Michael and Dave about robots playing robots at soccer, and how a computer program beat professional poker players at heads-up no-limit Texas Hold'em, and what it all means.

[Image courtesy of Michael Bowling]

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