Week 4 Activity (Option 1): Nelson Series talk @ Mudd

For colloquium this week, you can attend a talk from the 2023 Dr. Bruce J. Nelson ’74 Distinguished Speaker Series which this semester is exploring the complex interplay between humanity, artificial intelligence, and the future. The series will delve into the ethical, social, aesthetic and technological dimensions that shape our lives in the emerging AI age.

The talk this week is by Jaron Lanier, a computer scientist, musician, and author. The talk is on Tuesday, September 19, at 6:00 PM in the Auditorium of the R. Michael Shanahan Center for Teaching and Learning at Harvey Mudd College (SHAN 1430). There will be a reception beforehand at 5:15 PM outside the auditorium.

This talk is one of two colloquium options for this week. The other option is to attend the Summer Research & Scholarship Poster Celebration which takes place on Thursday and overlaps our usual colloquium timeslot. You can also attend both events if you wish.

There Is No AI

Abstract

While he is at the very center of AI developments, Jaron Lanier also has a radically different take on AI. He doesn’t think AI is a thing in itself, but is instead a new kind of social collaboration. AI as we know it today combines the expressions of real humans in new and useful ways. A chatbot borrows from things real people have said before and recombines them, for instance. This perspective opens up more useful ways to think than the usual science fiction framing, which treats the programs as mysterious, potentially scary creatures. Instead of using hard-to-define terms like “safety” or “fairness” to improve AI, we can ask whose input was important to a given output. That concreteness suggests ways to spread both lines of responsibility and opportunity. Instead of asking who will be put out of work by AI, we can ask who should be incentivized and rewarded for offering better data to go into AI programs. Lanier is also one of the few scientists working in the field who is good at explaining how the programs work to non-technical audiences.

About Jaron Lanier

Jaron Lanier is a computer scientist, composer, artist and author who writes on numerous topics, including high-technology business, the social impact of technology, the philosophy of consciousness and information, Internet politics and the future of humanism. He is author of the award-winning, international best selling books You Are Not a Gadget, A Manifesto; Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now and Who Owns the Future?, the latter a foundational critique of internet economics and one of the only frameworks for reform. Lanier is a pioneer in virtual reality (a term he coined). He founded VPL Research, the first company to sell VR products, and led teams originating VR applications for medicine, design, and numerous other fields. He is the “octopus” (Office of the Chief Technology Officer Prime Unifying Scientist) at Microsoft. He was a founder or principal of startups that were acquired by Google, Adobe, Oracle, and Pfizer. He has been named to the influential persons lists of Wired Magazine and Time Magazine and received a Lifetime Career Award from the IEEE, the preeminent international engineering society. Lanier is also a musician and artist. He has been active in the world of new “classical” music since the late ’70s and writes chamber and orchestral works. His paintings and drawings have been exhibited in museums and galleries in the United States and Europe.

When and How to Attend

This event has already taken place.

• Tuesday, September 19
  • This event took place in the Shanahan Center Auditorium, from 6:00–7:00 PM.

Recording for Those Who Could Not Attend In Person

Required Assessment

To receive credit for attending this colloquium, complete the assessment:

• Assessment

Please do so at your soonest convenience, within 24 hours of seeing the talk.

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