Our weekly Seminar Series welcomes Brian Cantwell Smith, Reid Hoffman Professor of Artificial Intelligence and the Human in the Faculty of Information at the University of Toronto, with appointments in U of T’s Department of Philosophy, Cognitive Science program, and Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology.
Talk Title
“Effing the ineffable: what AI teaches us about what can and cannot be said”
Abstract
A classical story takes the world to consist of objects exemplifying properties and standing in relations. Machine learning and other recent developments in AI support a different view: the world is stupefyingly rich and detailed, far more than can be captured in any finite representation. Representing the world in terms of objects, properties, and relations results from coarse-graining or abstracting over much richer underlying representations which carry more information than can readily be expressed in words. Or at least: more information than can be expressed in words according to classical theories of what words can mean and refer to.
Questions arise. What is out there, and how can we characterize it? What can words mean and refer to? Is the content of human language limited in the ways that classical theories assume? If I report that I laughed, and you grin in response, what has been communicated—and how?
Recommended reading
B. Cantwell Smith, The Promise of Artificial Intelligence: Reckoning and Judgement. MIT Press, 2019.
More about Brian Cantwell Smith
Brian Cantwell Smith came to Toronto as Dean of the Faculty of Information in 2003, after positions at Xerox PARC, Stanford, University of Indiana, and Duke University. He was a founder of the Stanford Center for the Study of Language and Information, first president of Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility, and president of the Society for Philosophy and Psychology. Smith holds BS, MS, and PhD degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Smith’s research focuses on the foundations of computation and artificial intelligence. In the 1980s he developed the world’s first reflective programming language (3Lisp). He is the author of On the Origin of Objects (1996) and The Promise of Artificial Intelligence: Reckoning and Judgment (2019).
About the SRI Seminar Series
The SRI Seminar Series brings together the Schwartz Reisman community and beyond for a robust exchange of ideas that advance scholarship at the intersection of technology and society. Seminars are led by a leading or emerging scholar and feature extensive discussion.
Each week, a featured speaker will present for 45 minutes, followed by 45 minutes of discussion. Registered attendees will be emailed a Zoom link approximately one hour before the event begins. The event will be recorded and posted online.
Brian Cantwell Smith