Our weekly SRI Seminar Series welcomes Jeff Clune, a professor of computer science at the University of British Columbia, a Canada CIFAR AI Chair at the Vector Institute, and a senior research advisor at DeepMind. Clune’s research focuses on deep learning, including deep reinforcement learning.
In this talk, Clune will explore how foundation models are opening new frontiers to create open-ended algorithms capable of continuous innovation and lifelong learning. Drawing from cutting-edge recent work, Clune will demonstrate how foundation models are being harnessed to push the boundaries of creativity and autonomy.
Moderator: Sheila McIlraith
Talk title:
“Open-ended and AI-generating algorithms in the era of foundation models”
Abstract:
Foundation models (e.g. large language models) create exciting new opportunities in our longstanding quests to produce open-ended and AI-generating algorithms, wherein agents can truly keep innovating and learning forever. In this talk, I will share some of our recent work harnessing the power of foundation models to make progress in these areas. I will cover our recent work on OMNI (Open-endedness via Models of human Notions of Interestingness), Video Pre-Training (VPT), Thought Cloning, Automatically Designing Agentic Systems, and The AI Scientist.
Suggested reading:
J. Clune, “AI-GAs: AI-generating algorithms, an alternate paradigm for producing general artificial intelligence,” arXiv pre-print, May 27, 2019.
J. Zhang, J. Lehman, K. Stanley, J. Clune, “OMNI: Open-endedness via Models of human Notions of Interestingness,” arXiv pre-print, June 2, 2023.
M. Faldor, J. Zhang, A. Cully, J. Clune, “OMNI-EPIC: Open-endedness via Models of human Notions of Interestingness with Environments Programmed in Code,” arXiv pre-print, May 24, 2024.
B. Baker, I. Akkaya, P. Zhokov, J. Huizinga, J. Tang, A. Ecoffet, B. Houghton, R. Sampedro, J. Clune, “Video pretraining (VPT): Learning to act by watching unlabeled online videos,” Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems 35 (NeurIPS 2022).
S. Hu, J. Clune, “Thought cloning: Learning to think while acting by imitating human thinking,” Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems 36 (NeurIPS 2023).
S. Hu, C. Lu, J. Clune, “Automated Design of Agentic Systems,” arXiv pre-print, August 15, 2024.
C. Lu, C. Lu, R. T. Lange, J. Foerster, J. Clune, D. Ha, “The AI Scientist: Towards Fully Automated Open-Ended Scientific Discovery,” arXiv pre-print, August 12, 2024.
About Jeff Clune
Jeff Clune is a professor of computer science at the University of British Columbia, a Canada CIFAR AI Chair at the Vector Institute, and a senior research advisor at DeepMind. Clune’s research focuses on deep learning, including deep reinforcement learning. Previously he was a research manager at OpenAI, a senior research manager and founding member of Uber AI Labs (formed after Uber acquired a startup he helped lead), the Harris Associate Professor in Computer Science at the University of Wyoming, and a research scientist at Cornell University. Clune has received degrees from Michigan State University (PhD, master’s) and the University of Michigan (bachelor’s).
Since 2015, Clune won the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers from the White House, had two papers in Nature, one in Science, and one in PNAS, won an NSF CAREER award, received Outstanding Paper of the Decade and Distinguished Young Investigator awards, received two Test of Time awards, and had best paper awards, oral presentations, and invited talks at the top machine learning conferences (NeurIPS, CVPR, ICLR, and ICML). His research is regularly covered in the press, including the New York Times, NPR, the New Yorker, CNN, NBC, Wired, the BBC, the Economist, Science, Nature, National Geographic, the Atlantic, and the New Scientist. More on Jeff’s research can be found on his website or on X/Twitter (@jeffclune).
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 an open discussion. Registered attendees will be emailed a Zoom link before the event begins. The event will be recorded and posted online.
Jeff Clune