Computing Up

Latest Episodes:

The Embodied George Konidaris - 48th Conversation Jul 05, 2021

Show notes

Michael and Dave talk to George Konidaris, assistant professor and director of the Intelligent Robot Lab at Brown University, about building generally intelligent robots, or anyway trying, and the importance of both embodiment and abstraction in artificial intelligence.

[Title image courtesy of George Konidaris]

Mike Lesk: Data Scientist OG - 47th Conversation Jun 05, 2021

Show notes

Rutgers Professor Michael Lesk talks to Michael and Dave about everything from computing and information retrieval in the 1960s, to railroad signaling and recognizing giraffes, to the difference between astronomers and computer scientists, to Colonial Pipeline and the real AI challenge.

[Title image courtesy of Mike Lesk]

Closing Triangles with Tina Eliassi-Rad - 46th Conversation May 01, 2021

Show notes

Professor Tina Eliassi-Rad of Northeastern's Network Science Institute talks with Michael and Dave about topics ranging from graph structures and machine learning to AI ethics and the nature of democracy.

[Title image courtesy of Tina Eliassi-Rad]

Glum About Tech - 45th Conversation Mar 02, 2021

Show notes

Dave is feeling glum about technology -- and by extension about the impacts of computer science, the exploitation of science in general, and the hope for sustainability and truth in society. Michael helps sort it all out.

Computing Penguins with Heather Lynch - 44th Conversation Feb 01, 2021

Show notes

Michael and Dave talk to Heather J. Lynch, Associate Professor of Ecology and Evolution at Stony Brook University, about awards and leaving physics, about saving penguins and the planet, and more.

Heather Lane Beyond Academia - 43rd Conversation Jan 02, 2021

Show notes

Heather Lane, machine learning researcher and senior architect at athenahealth, joins Dave and Michael in a talk of many things, of the thermodynamics of life, of the US healthcare industry and life after academia, of coming out as transgender.

Fil Menczer: From Artificial Life To Social Bots - 42nd Conversation Dec 01, 2020

Show notes

Fil Menczer, professor and director of the Observatory on Social Media at Indiana University, joined Michael and Dave on the day after the 2020 USA presidential election. Fil revealed how his 1990s Artificial Life research set the stage for his current work, focusing not just on the facts of disinformation and hoaxes and conspiracy theories and social bots, but also how to identify and fight them.

[Title image based on photograph licensed CC BY-SA 3.0 by Tracey Theriault]

Jeff Bigham: Humanizing AI - 41st Conversation Nov 01, 2020

Show notes

Jeff Bigham, an Associate Professor at Carnegie-Mellon's Human-Computer Interaction Institute, joins Michael and Dave in a wide-ranging discussion of human-computer interactions, AI threats and opportunities, and systems and organizations made of both computers and humans.

[Episode transcript (PDF)]

[Cover photo courtesy of Jeff Bigham]

The Reward Function and the Structure of Meaning - 40th conversation Oct 06, 2020

Show notes

Michael and Dave discuss the meaning of the reward function, and its consequences for AI and human society.

Entering Hyperspace - 39th Conversation Sep 06, 2020

Show notes

Dave tries to explain his "We are coders" approach to cognition to Michael, as part of developing the second lecture in the "Introduction to Classical Hyperspace" series.

First lecture

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