Human Cognition and the AI Revolution

Panel Discussion December 6, 2018

Einstein once remarked, “Any fool can know. The point is to understand.” Indeed, discovering the true nature of reality may ultimately hinge on grasping the nature and essence of human understanding. What are the fundamental elements or building blocks of human understanding? And how will superintelligent machines challenge our ideas about cognition, reality, and the limits of human understanding?

The 21st century has seen rapid advancements in the realm of artificial intelligence, or AI, which aims to generate a synthetic capacity to mimic and even surpass human knowledge. But beyond the creation of programs that detect statistical patterns in vast data sets, it remains to be seen whether AI can formalize the basic elements of human understanding into a system of rules that could then be applied in computer programs. Such “knowledge engineering” would constitute a significant breakthrough, enabling machines to share some of our cognitive abilities rather than merely imitating the results of our thinking. These advancements in AI may ultimately force us to confront more profound questions about what it means to be human.

Logician/mathematician Roger Antonsen and computer science pioneer Barbara J. Grosz join Steve Paulson to break down the fundamental elements of human understanding and analyze what lies ahead on the horizon of AI.

Panel

  • Steve Paulson Journalist and Executive Producer, TTBOOK
  • Roger Antonsen Associate Professor, University of Oslo
  • Barbara J. Grosz Professor of Natural Sciences, Harvard University

Details

  • Thursday, December 6, 2018
  • 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm

  • The New York Academy of Sciences
    7 World Trade Center, 250 Greenwich Street, 40th Floor

Annals

This volume brings together leading scientists and thinkers to explore the fundamental nature of reality through the lens of scientific inquiry and personal experience.

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About This Series

This event is part of the Conversations on the Nature of Reality series, which brings together leading scientists and thinkers to explore the fundamental nature of reality through the lens of scientific inquiry and personal experience.

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Highlights

  • What AI Reveals about Our Biases Dec 06, 2018 05:44 1005
  • Barbara Grosz Breaks Down the Turing Test Dec 06, 2018 06:13 930
  • Is AI Ready for Autonomous Vehicles? Dec 06, 2018 06:36 535
  • Can Computers Think or Have Consciousness? Dec 06, 2018 08:10 3577
  • Is the Goal of AI to Create Machines that Think? Dec 06, 2018 04:03 1255
  • Should Children be Required to Study Computer Science? Dec 06, 2018 05:13 439
Video Title To Be Dynamically Inserted Here 05:48 1345

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