Artificial intelligence experts from Berkeley and beyond will explore the ramifications of ChatGPT on science and society in a series of lectures this spring. (Adobe Stock Image)
Since its launch last November, the artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT has caused a stir around the world, with people using the platform to do everything from writing essays, computer code, poems and research proposals to vacation planning, flirting with Tinder matches, and creating malware.
According to UC Berkeley computer scientist Ken Goldberg, the computer program’s ease with natural language — especially its ability to be consistently creative — is forcing many AI experts to rethink what machines can be. capable and even our understanding of intelligence.
“ChatGPT can catalyze a paradigm shift,” said Goldberg, William S. Floyd Jr. Chair of Engineering. precedents, and everyone, including the experts, is asking, ‘What does that mean? Where do we go from here?'”
In a series of public lectures in Berkeley this spring, seven of the world’s leading AI experts will tackle these questions head-on.
The series will feature Berkeley Ph.D. recipient John Schulman, co-founder of OpenAI and principal architect of ChatGPT, who will discuss the evolution of the program on April 19.
Other speakers in the series will include Rodney Brooks, Professor Emeritus at MIT and a leading robotics expert, and five prominent Berkeley AI faculty members who will discuss recent advances in the fields of computer vision, machine learning automation and robotics. The lectures will also explore the political, ethical and societal ramifications of new AI technology, as well as how humans could coexist with ever smarter machines.
More information on the conferences and how to attend can be found here.
ChatGPT is an acronym for Chat Generative Pre-Trained Transformer. The chatbot was developed by OpenAI, a research company that aims to develop and direct AI in ways that benefit humanity as a whole. Launched last November, ChatGPT is part of OpenAI’s family of GPT language models.
Many of the concepts behind ChatGPT were pioneered at the Berkeley Artificial Intelligence Research Lab (BAIR) by faculty members who include the speakers in the Berkeley lecture series, as well as Dan Klein and Pieter Abbeel, who was the Schulman’s Ph.D. advise. Campus researchers also use artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques to tackle a wide variety of global activities, from searching for exoplanets to fighting climate change.
“Everyone wants to hear from the experts,” Goldberg said. “There are so many misconceptions floating around. In the series, we will hear from those who have worked in the field for many years and who can provide valuable insights into the importance of ChatGPT.”
This image, titled “Cloud Computing”, was created in Midjourney, an artificial intelligence program that creates images from text descriptions. The prompt specified that the image included “a supercomputer floating in the sky surrounded by cumulonimbus clouds”. (UC Berkeley image by Neil Freese)
Here is a list of upcoming conferences:
Monday, March 20, 4 p.m.
“The Sensorimotor Road to Artificial Intelligence”
Jitendra Malik, Arthur J. Chick Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Berkeley
Chevron Auditorium, International House, 2299 Piedmont Avenue.
Presented by the Martin Meyerson Faculty Research Lectures
Wednesday, April 5, 12 p.m.
“How not to destroy the world with AI”
Stuart Russell, computer science professor at Berkeley
Presented by CITRIS Research Exchange and BAIR
Wednesday, April 12, 12 p.m.
“Imitation and Innovation in AI: What Four-Year-Olds Can Do and What AI Can’t (Yet)”
Alison Gopnik, Emeritus Professor of Psychology at Berkeley
Presented by CITRIS Research Exchange and BAIR
Wednesday, April 19, 12 p.m.
“How AI fails us and how economics can help us”
Michael Jordan, Pehong Chen Professor Emeritus in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and the Department of Statistics at Berkeley
Presented by CITRIS Research Exchange and BAIR
Wednesday, April 19, 4 p.m.
John Schulman, Berkeley alumnus and co-founder of OpenAI
Presented by the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and BAIR
Wednesday, April 26, 12 p.m.
“Generative AI meets copyright law”
Pamela Samuelson, Emeritus Richard M. Sherman Professor of Law and Information and Co-Director of the Berkeley Center for Law & Technology
Presented by CITRIS Research Exchange and BAIR
Friday, April 28, 12 p.m.
Rodney Brooks, professor emeritus at MIT and co-founder of Robust.AI
Presented by the BAIR Robotics Symposium