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CSLI Calendar, Wednesday, 29 August 2007, vol. 22:50
CSLI CALENDAR OF PUBLIC EVENTS
______________________________________________________________________
29 AUGUST 2007 Stanford Vol. 22, No. 50
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A weekly publication of the
Center for the Study of Language and Information (CSLI)
Stanford University, Cordura Hall, Stanford, CA 94305-4101
http://www-csli.stanford.edu/
____________
ACTIVITIES FROM 29 AUGUST 2007 TO 7 SEPTEMBER 2007
WEDNESDAY, 29 AUGUST 2007
3:00pm UC Berkeley HWNI Talk [29-Aug-07]
521 Cory Hall (Berkeley)
"Non-Invasive Brain-Computer Interaction"
Jose del R. Millan
EPFL/IDIAP
http://neuroscience.berkeley.edu/events/
THURSDAY, 30 AUGUST 2007
3:00pm CURIS Poster Session [30-Aug-07]
Gates Lobby
Computer Science undergraduate summer interns present their
work (3-5pm)
http://cs.stanford.edu/calendar/abstract.php?eventId=2541
4:00pm SRI AI Seminar Series [30-Aug-07]
EJ228, SRI International
"Using Evolutionary Modeling and Pathway Ontologies to Help
Uncover Genetic Factors in Human Disease"
Paul D Thomas
SRI
http://www.ai.sri.com/seminars/
Abstract below
FRIDAY, 31 AUGUST 2007
12:30pm UC Berkeley HWNI Talk [31-Aug-07]
101 LSA (Berkeley)
Title to be announced
Axel Brunger
http://neuroscience.berkeley.edu/events/
3:00pm Berkeley Information Access Seminar [31-Aug-07]
107 South Hall (Berkeley)
"Introductions. Audience and Interactivity"
Clifford Lynch
http://courses.ischool.berkeley.edu/i296a-1/f07/schedule.html
Information below
MONDAY, 3 SEPTEMBER 2007 - Labor Day, University Holiday
TUESDAY, 4 SEPTEMBER 2007
12:30pm UC Berkeley HWNI Talk [4-Sep-07]
508-20 Evans Hall (Berkeley)
"On reading and writing the brain: Using electric field
potentials to read and modulate the timing of neuronal activity"
Lucas C. Parra
CUNY
http://neuroscience.berkeley.edu/events/
4:00pm UC Berkeley BISC Seminar [4-Sep-07]
380 Soda Hall (Berkeley)
"From Search Engines to Question-Answering Systems--
A Challenge that is Hard to Meet"
Lotfi Zadeh
UC Berkeley
http://www-bisc.eecs.berkeley.edu/
Abstract below
WEDNESDAY, 5 SEPTEMBER 2007
10:30am CSLI Talk [5-Sep-07]
Cordura 100
"Diagrammatic Logics: Past, Present and Future"
Gem Stapleton
University of Brighton
Abstract below
THURSDAY, 6 SEPTEMBER 2007
4:00pm SRI AI Seminar Series [6-Sep-07]
EJ228, SRI International
"Extensional Reasoning: Datalog-based Deduction"
Tim Hinrichs
Stanford University
http://www.ai.sri.com/seminars/
Abstract below
FRIDAY, 7 SEPTEMBER 2007
11:00am UC Berkeley ICBS Colloquium [7-Sep-07]
Tolman 5101 (Berkeley)
"Aesthetics as Cognitive Science: Understanding Preferences
for Color and Spatial Composition."
Steve Palmer
Psychology, UC Berkeley
http://icbs.berkeley.edu/
Abstract below
4:00pm UC Berkeley Philosophy Conference [7-Sep-07]
Seaborg Room, Men's Faculty Club (Berkeley)
"Models of Mind. A conference in honor of Tony Long"
http://socrates.berkeley.edu/~cdozier/ModelsofMind.html
Information below
3:00pm Berkeley Information Access Seminar [7-Sep-07]
107 South Hall (Berkeley)
"Authorship and Identity"
Clifford Lynch
http://courses.ischool.berkeley.edu/i296a-1/f07/schedule.html
Abstract below
SATURDAY, 8 SEPTEMBER 2007
all day UC Berkeley Philosophy Conference [8-Sep-07]
Seaborg Room, Men's Faculty Club (Berkeley)
"Models of Mind. A conference in honor of Tony Long"
http://socrates.berkeley.edu/~cdozier/ModelsofMind.html
Information below
all day Singularity Summit [8-Sep-07]
Palace of Fine Arts (San Francisco)
http://www.singinst.org/summit2007
Abstract below
SUNDAY, 9 SEPTEMBER 2007
all day UC Berkeley Philosophy Conference [9-Sep-07]
Seaborg Room, Men's Faculty Club (Berkeley)
"Models of Mind. A conference in honor of Tony Long"
http://socrates.berkeley.edu/~cdozier/ModelsofMind.html
Information below
all day Singularity Summit [9-Sep-07]
Palace of Fine Arts (San Francisco)
http://www.singinst.org/summit2007
Abstract below
____________
Stanford Blood Center: Shortage of O-, O+, A-, A+, B+, and B-.
For an appointment: http://bloodcenter.stanford.edu/ or call
650-723-7831. It only takes an hour of your time and you get free
cookies. Remember the usual supply of vic^H^H^Hstudents is gone for
the summer. The Blood Center is also raising money for a new
bloodmobile.
____________
NOTE
The scholars over at the respectable institution to the north-west of
us are beginning to waken from their summer estivation as the
twenty-second volume of this calendar draws to a close. Stanford
still has a month of dormancy to go (except for the finance people who
are trying to balance the books).
As always I would be interested in knowing any new event series at
Berkeley of interest to the Cognitive Science world.
____________
SRI AI SEMINAR SERIES
on Thursday, 30 August 2007, 4:00pm - 5:30pm
EJ228, SRI International
http://www.ai.sri.com/seminars/
"Using Evolutionary Modeling and Pathway Ontologies to Help
Uncover Genetic Factors in Human Disease"
Paul D Thomas
SRI
http://www.ai.sri.com/esb/
In the first part of the talk, I will discuss the application of
evolutionary modeling to the problem of predicting which genetic
polymorphisms are most likely to impact phenotype. The evolutionary
history of a gene, as well as the histories of related genes, provides
information about the sequence changes that have been the target of
natural selection. My group has used measures of both negative
selection (evolutionary conservation) and positive selection across
different species to help predict the effects of genetic mutations and
polymorphisms in the human population.
In the second part of the talk, I will discuss recent work on using
biological pathway information in analysis of genetic association
(genotype-phenotype) data. I show how pathway ontologies can provide
structured priors in a Bayesian analysis framework.
____________
BERKELEY INFORMATION ACCESS SEMINAR
on Friday, 31 August 2007, 3:00pm - 5:00pm
107 South Hall (Berkeley)
http://courses.ischool.berkeley.edu/i296a-1/f07/schedule.html
"Introductions. Audience and Interactivity"
Clifford Lynch
"Round-the-table": A regular part of the seminar is an opportunity for
participants to talk about briefly about their own work, or about
interesting things that they have seen and read. At this session of
the seminar, we'll invite everybody to introduce themselves briefly,
and ask them to quickly summarize the most interesting thing they have
read, or the most interesting presentation that they've seen, since
the seminar last met in May.
Audience and Interactivity: There has been a lot of discussion about
interactive exhibitions and interactive collections, particularly in
the context of so-called Web 2.0 services. I will make the argument
that these are relatively trivial examples of a much more complex set
of challenges that are arising as cultural memory organizations
interact with the public through exhibitions and collections; I'll
provide some examples and raise a number of research problems that
might be explored.
____________
UC BERKELEY BISC SEMINAR
on Tuesday, 4 September 2007, 4:00pm-5:30pm
380 Soda Hall (Berkeley)
http://www-bisc.eecs.berkeley.edu/
"From Search Engines to Question-Answering Systems--
A Challenge that is Hard to Meet"
Lotfi Zadeh
UC Berkeley
Existing search engines, with Google at the top, have many truly
remarkable capabilities. Furthermore, constant progress is being made
in improving their performance. But what is not widely recognized is
that there is a basic capability which existing search engines do not
have: deduction, capability to synthesize an answer to a query by
drawing on bodies of information which reside in various parts of the
knowledge base. By definition, a question-answering system is a
system which has deduction capability. Can a search engine be upgraded
to a question-answering system through the use of existing tools which
are based on bivalent logic and probability theory? A view which is
articulated in the following is that the answer is: No.
There are three major obstacles: (a) world knowledge; (b) relevance;
and (c) deduction. The problem with world knowledge is that in large
measure it is perception-based and hence is intrinsically
imprecise. Example: Usually it does not rain in San Francisco in
midsummer. Perception-based information is not available to
manipulation through the use of bivalent logic and probability theory.
The problem with relevance is that existing approaches to assessment
of relevance attempt to deal with relevance in a statistical
framework, with no consideration of semantics. The results leave much
to be desired. The problem with deduction is that in realistic
settings the premises are generally imprecise, uncertain and partially
true. In such settings, conventional methods of deduction do not work.
To deal with the problems of world knowledge, assessment of relevance
and deduction, new tools are needed. The new tools which are outlined
in my lecture are Precisiated Natural Language (PNL), Protoform Theory
(PFT) and Generalized Theory of Uncertainty (GTU). The centerpiece of
these tools is the concept of a generalized constraint. The concept of
a generalized constraint is what makes us possible to deal effectively
with information which is permanently imprecise, uncertain and
partially true.
____________
CSLI TALK
on Wednesday, 5 September 2007, 10:30am
Cordura 100
"Diagrammatic Logics: Past, Present and Future"
Gem Stapleton
University of Brighton
Diagrams have many practical applications and are used in numerous
settings. Indeed, it is widely recognized that diagrams are a valuable
aid to intuition and help to convey ideas and information in a clear
way. Traditionally, however, logicians have viewed diagrams as
informal tools and, thus, could not be a part of any formal argument;
only symbolic logics were seen to fulfill this role. Recently, this
perception was overturned in seminal work by Shin. This paper explores
the evolution of diagrammatic logics, focusing on those based on the
popular and intuitive Euler diagrams. Also discussed are some
challenges faced in the area, some of which are specifically related
to diagrams.
____________
SRI AI SEMINAR SERIES
on Thursday, 6 September 2007, 4:00pm - 5:30pm
EJ228, SRI International
http://www.ai.sri.com/seminars/
"Extensional Reasoning: Datalog-based Deduction"
Tim Hinrichs
Stanford University
Relational databases have had great industrial success in computer
science; however, most automated theorem provers today do not take
advantage of database query engines and therefore do not routinely
leverage that source of power. Extensional Reasoning is, as far as we
know, a novel approach to automated deduction where the system
automatically translates an entailment query expressed in classical
logic into a query about a database system so that the answers to the
two queries are the same. To prove the theorem, the system then
evaluates the database query.
Extensional Reasoning was developed because many problems can be
solved efficiently using a database but are naturally expressed using
classical logic. In some cases, database query engines solve the
database version of the query orders of magnitude faster than
traditional theorem proving techniques solve the classical
version. Extensional Reasoning helps us to build systems that allow a
non-expert to write problems down naturally, convert the problem to an
efficient representation automatically, and solve that problem using
industrial-strength systems.
Algorithms for Extensional Reasoning can conceptually be broken into
two classes: those for complete theories and those for incomplete
theories. A complete theory, one that can answer all the questions in
its vocabulary, corresponds naturally to a deductive
database. Algorithms for this class of theories must recognize the
theory is complete and then construct the appropriate database
system. In the context of a logic with a finite domain, we present
incomplete but low-order polynomial-time algorithms for performing
these tasks. An incomplete theory, one for which there is some
question in the vocabulary that cannot be answered, does not
correspond naturally to a database system, and so the algorithms for
performing Extensional Reasoning are more complex. In this case our
approach constructs a new, complete theory that captures the
information pertinent to the original problema novel form of
theory-completion. We present algorithms for performing this type of
theory-completion in the same finite logic.
About the Speaker: Hinrichs is a Ph.D. candidate at Stanford
University studying computational logic: the representation and
processing of knowledge in a logical form. Currently he is interested
in the relationships between some of the most successful applications
of logic in computer science: theorem proving, deductive databases,
logic programming, constraint satisfaction, boolean satisfiability,
and model checking. His thesis, Extensional Reasoning, automatically
transforms theorem proving problems in a finite logic into deductive
database problems, implicitly proving theorems using
industrial-strength database algorithms.
____________
UC BERKELEY ICBS COLLOQUIUM
on Friday, 7 September 2007, 11:00am
Tolman 5101 (Berkeley)
http://icbs.berkeley.edu/
"Aesthetics as Cognitive Science: Understanding Preferences
for Color and Spatial Composition"
Steve Palmer
Psychology, UC Berkeley
Despite its importance and generality, the aesthetic dimension of
mental experience has received little empirical study. I will
describe three current projects that measure aesthetic preferences for
spatial and color composition. Our results show that people
consistently prefer for a single object in a rectangular frame to be
positioned at or near the center of the frame (the "center bias") and
to face toward the center of the frame (the "inward bias"), and weakly
prefer it to face to the right (the "rightward bias"). Related
experiments on people's judgments of the "goodness of fit" for small
probe shapes at various positions and orientations within a
rectangular frame support the same biases, with striking evidence for
the role of symmetry and balance in spatial composition. In the color
domain, preferences for color combinations are well predicted by
people's rated preference for the individual colors and for their
ratings of the harmony of the pair. Contradicting many color
theorists in the art world, complementary colors are not seen as
harmonious. However, colors are judged individually as most pleasing
against highly contrastive backgrounds. The results show that visual
aesthetic science is a new and exciting topic within cognitive science
that can shed new light on the nature of our mental representations of
the visible world.
____________
UC BERKELEY PHILOSOPHY CONFERENCE
on Friday-Sunday, 7-9 September 2007
Seaborg Room, Men's Faculty Club (Berkeley)
http://socrates.berkeley.edu/~cdozier/ModelsofMind.html
"Models of Mind. A conference in honor of Tony Long"
A. A. Long has taught for the last 25 years in the Department of
Classics at UC Berkeley, where he is currently Professor of Classics
and Irving G. Stone Professor of Literature. During that time, he has
brought immense distinction to the department and the university,
where he has done much to set the intellectual tone of study in the
humanities. Long's work ranges widely over classical culture and the
history of ideas, but he is best known for his seminal work on ancient
philosophy. Among other things, he is renowned for his four decades
of work on Hellenistic Philosophy. Long's work has changed the
intellectual landscape, and has had a profound impact on the
discipline of Ancient Philosophy. His pioneering work has brought
about the extraordinary renaissance of Hellenistic Philosophy that is
flourishing in the academy today. Prof. Long has also been the
teacher of many students who have gone on to distinction as scholars
in their own right.
This conference offers an opportunity for those who have been taught
and influenced by Tony Long to celebrate his unique lifetime
contribution to the field of Classics. All of the papers at the
conference will be given by Long's former pupils. The papers will
deal with a theme that is at the center of Long's current project
(and which is also featured in his earlier works)---"Models of Mind."
The speakers and commentators will engage with ideas that Long has
brought to prominence in the field of Ancient Philosophy. The
commentators on the papers all have strong intellectual ties to Tony
Long and his work, and will make for a rich and diverse conference.
This event will be a fitting celebration of one of Berkeley's most
eminent and influential scholars. In addition, it offers the
participants and the audience an opportunity to engage in
collaborative and interdisciplinary investigations.
Schedule
Friday, Sept. 7
4:00pm Opening
4:30pm Allan Silverman, "Contemplating Divine Reason"
Respondent: John Ferrari
Chair: David Sedley
5:30pm Sara Ahbel-Rappe, "Cross-Examining Happiness: Reason and
Community in the Socratic Dialogues of Plato"
Respondent: Richard McKirahan
Chair: Mary-Louise Gill
Saturday, Sept. 8
10:00am Kathryn Morgan, "Inspiration, Recollection, and the Gods:
Problems with Mythical Presentation in Plato's Phaedrus"
Respondent: Mary-Louise Gill
Chair: Andrea Nightingale
11:00am Alan Code, "Skepticism and Perceptual Puzzles in Aristotle"
Respondent: Henry Mendell
Chair: Chris Bobonich
1:30pm Luca Castagnoli, "How Dialectical was Stoic Dialectic?"
Respondent: Jean-Baptiste Gourinat
Chair: Keimpe Algra
2:30pm Richard Bett, "Beauty and its Connection with Goodness in the
Stoics"
Respondent: Ruby Blondell
Chair: Myles Burnyeat
coffee break
4:00pm Stephen White, "Stoic Selection: Who, What, and How?"
Respondent: Keimpe Algra
Chair: Henry Mendell
5:00pm Gretchen Reydams-Schils, "Seneca's Alleged Platonism: Human and
Divine Minds"
Respondent: Chris Bobonich
Chair: Richard McKirahan
6:00pm Appreciations of Tony Long
Sunday, Sept. 9
10:00am James Ker, "Seneca's Socrates"
Respondent: Brad Inwood
Chair: Brad Inwood
11:00am Ken Wolfe, "The Status of the Individual in Plotinus"
Respondent: Myles Burnyeat
Chair: John Ferrari
12:00pm Last words (Tony Long)
____________
BERKELEY INFORMATION ACCESS SEMINAR
on Friday, 7 September 2007, 3:00pm - 5:00pm
107 South Hall (Berkeley)
http://courses.ischool.berkeley.edu/i296a-1/f07/schedule.html
"Authorship and Identity"
Clifford Lynch
I'll look at various developments in scholarly communication (citation
indexing, web statistics gathering, preprint archives); in identity
management; and in name authority control. My fundamental thesis will
be that there is an opportunity to begin to deliberately and
systematically relate and potentally converge developments in these
different areas; I'll lead a discussion of the issues and actors that
might be involved in doing so.
In this talk, I'll look at various developments in scholarly
communication (citation indexing, web statistics gathering, preprint
archives); in identity management; and in name authority control. My
fundamental thesis will be that there is an opportunity to begin to
deliberately and systematically relate and potentally converge
developments in these different areas; I'll lead a discussion of the
issues and actors that might be involved in doing so.
____________
SINGULARITY SUMMIT
Saturday and Sunday, 8 and 9 September 2007, all day
Palace of Fine Arts (San Francisco)
http://www.singinst.org/summit2007
What are the major challenges to achieving advanced AI? What are the
benefits and dangers? How far are we from self-improving AI? How
should we prepare for this potentially powerful innovation?
These are among the questions that 17 outstanding thinkers will
explore and debate at the Singularity Summit, to be held Saturday and
Sunday, September 8-9, at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco,
California. The summit is organized by the Singularity Institute for
Artificial Intelligence, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit institute in
Silicon Valley for the study of safe advanced AI.
"Advanced AI has the potential to impact every aspect of human
life. We are in a crucial window of opportunity where we have
temporary but powerful leverage to influence the outcome," said Tyler
Emerson, chair of the summit and executive director of the Singularity
Institute for Artificial Intelligence. "Only a small group of
scientists are aware of the central issues. It is essential to expand
discussion of this critical 21st century issue, which is why I have
created the summit."
Peter Thiel, PayPal Cofounder, Clarium Capital President, and
Facebook's initial investor, will MC and also present his new ideas on
Financial Markets and the Singularity. "It's clear that the term 'AI'
means a lot of different things," said Thiel. "It's one of these terms
that has been bandied about a great deal, and has been misused a
lot. It has been predicted for a long time that AI is right around the
corner, and it's taking longer than many people thought it would, with
many disappointments along the way. However, it's clear that there's a
massive set of issues happening, and people who don't think there's
something important going on are just living in a delusional fantasy
world."
Tickets can be purchased online for $50 at
http://www.singinst.org/summit2007/tickets/.
Confirmed speakers include:
* Dr. Rodney Brooks, famous MIT roboticist and founder of iRobot
* Dr. Peter Norvig, director of research at Google
* Paul Saffo, Stanford, leading technology forecaster
* Sam Adams, distinguished engineer within IBM's Research Division
* Jamais Cascio, cofounder of World Changing and creator of Open
the Future
* Dr. Ben Goertzel, director of research at SIAI and founder of
Novamente
* Dr. J. Storrs Hall, author of Beyond AI: Creating the Conscience
of the Machine
* Dr. Charles L. Harper, Jr., senior VP at John Templeton
Foundation
* Dr. James Hughes, executive director of Institute for Ethics and
Emerging Technologies
* Neil Jacobstein, prominent AI expert and CEO of Teknowledge
* Dr. Stephen Omohundro, founder of Self-Aware Systems
* Dr. Barney Pell, founder and CEO of Powerset
* Christine Peterson, cofounder of Foresight Nanotech Institute
* Peter Thiel, cofounder of PayPal and founder of Clarium Capital
* Wendell Wallach, author of Machine Morality: From Aristotle to
Asimov and Beyond
* Eliezer Yudkowsky, Friendly AI pioneer and cofounder of SIAI
* Peter Voss, founder and CEO of Adaptive Artificial Intelligence
"To any thoughtful person, the Singularity idea, even if it seems
wild, raises a gigantic, swirling cloud of profound and vital
questions about humanity and the powerful technologies it is
producing," said Douglas R. Hofstadter at last year's Singularity
Summit at Stanford, author of Gdel, Escher, Bach, which won a Pulitzer
Prize in 1980. "Given this mysterious and rapidly approaching cloud,
there can be no doubt that the time has come for the scientific and
technological community to seriously try to figure out what is on
humanity's collective horizon. Not to do so would be hugely
irresponsible."
SIAI is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit institute in Palo Alto, California,
with three long-term goals: furthering the nascent science of safe
advanced AI (self-improving cognitive systems) through research and
development, research fellowships, research grants, and science
education; furthering the understanding of its implications to society
through educational outreach, such as the annual Singularity Summit;
and furthering education among students to foster an interdisciplinary
field for the study of safe advanced AI. Learn more by visiting SIAI
at http://www.singinst.org.
____________
END MATERIAL
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