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Events for November 10, 2022

  • NL Seminar -Effective, Explainable, and Equitable NLP with World Knowledge and Interactions

    Thu, Nov 10, 2022 @ 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

    Information Sciences Institute

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Bodhi Prasad Majumder, UCSD

    Talk Title: Effective, Explainable, and Equitable NLP with World Knowledge and Interactions

    Series: NL Seminar

    Abstract: REMINDER
    Meeting hosts only admit guests that they know to the Zoom meeting. Hence, you are highly encouraged to use your USC account to sign into Zoom.

    If you are an outside visitor, please inform us at nlg DASH seminar DASH host AT isi DOT edu beforehand so we will be aware of your attendance and let you in.

    In person attendance will be permitted for USC ISI faculty, staff, students only. Open to the public virtually via the zoom link and online.

    Artificial intelligence AI has shown remarkable effectiveness in knowledge seeking applications e.g., for recommendations and explanations. However, the increasing expectation of more trust, accessibility, and anthropomorphism in these AI systems requires the underlying components dialog models, LLMs, classifiers to be adaptive and adequately knowledge grounded. In reality, the outputs of the constituent models often lack commonsense, explanations, and subjectivity a long standing goal of artificial general intelligence.

    In this talk, I aim to address this gap through the concept of interactive explainability, realized via three pillars knowledge, explanations, and interactions. First, I will explore the post-hoc methods to effectively inject relevant and diverse knowledge into an existing dialog model without additional training. Second, I will investigate the role of background knowledge in model reasoning, prediction, and faithfully constructing natural language explanations. Third, I will propose an interactive approach to address fairness and subjectivity in bias mitigation via feature level user interventions. Finally, I will hint at future possibilities and societal impacts of next-generation explainable interactive systems.

    Biography: Bodhi Prasad Majumder is a final year PhD student at CSE, UC San Diego, advised by Prof. Julian McAuley. His research goal is to build interactive machines capable of producing knowledge grounded explanations. He previously spent time at the Allen Institute of AI, Google AI, Microsoft Research, and FAIR Meta AI, along with collaborations from U of Oxford, U of British Columbia, and the Alan Turing Institute.

    His work has been recognized by the UCSD CSE Doctoral Award for Research, Adobe Research Fellowship, Qualcomm Innovation Fellowship, and Highlights of ACM Rec Sys, among many awards and several media coverages. In 2019, Bodhi led UCSD in the finals of the Amazon Alexa Prize. He also co authored a best selling NLP book with O Reilly Media that is being adopted in universities internationally.

    Host: Jon May and Meryem Mhamdi

    More Info: https://nlg.isi.edu/nl-seminar/

    Webcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Mva6sQgjuw

    Location: Information Science Institute (ISI) - Virtual and ISI-Conf Rm#689

    WebCast Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Mva6sQgjuw

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Pete Zamar

    Event Link: https://nlg.isi.edu/nl-seminar/

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  • Dean's Seminar: Dean Gregory D. Abowd (Northeastern University) - The Internet of Materials: Rethinking the future of computing

    Thu, Nov 10, 2022 @ 03:30 PM - 04:50 PM

    Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Dean Gregory D. Abowd, Northeastern University

    Talk Title: The Internet of Materials: Rethinking the future of computing

    Series: Dean's Seminar

    Abstract: If we trace how computers have evolved over the past 8 or so decades, we can certainly see the impact of increasingly sophisticated manufacturing techniques. Computers now come in many different shapes and sizes. And applications, of course, have driven the widespread adoption, so much so that it appears we have an insatiable appetite for computing, and the power that is needed to feed it. That's a problem. We must take more seriously some of the past assumptions of how we manufacture computers and what properties the constituent materials impose. In this talk, I will introduce the notion of the Internet of Materials, whereby the power, form factor, and manufacturing costs of a computational object take precedence over other functional features of that object. I will show some simple examples that highlight how we can create self-sustaining computational materials. The purpose of the talk is to motivate researchers to think creatively about the convergence of materials, manufacturing, and computing. I hope these initial, and somewhat simple, examples prompt deeper discussions on how Northeastern can become a leader in defining a complementary computing industry.

    This lecture satisfies requirements for CSCI 591: Research Colloquium.


    Biography: Gregory D. Abowd is the Dean of the College of Engineering at Northeastern University, where he is also a Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering with affiliate appointments in the Khoury College of Computer Sciences and the Bouvé College of Health Sciences. Prior to joining Northeastern in March 2021, Dr. Abowd was faculty in the College of Computing at the Georgia Institute of Technology for over 26 years, where he held the titles of Regents' Professor and J.Z. Liang Endowed Chair in the School in Interactive Computing. His research falls largely in the area of Human-Computer Interaction with an emphasis on applications and technology development for mobile and ubiquitous computing in everyday settings. His research has introduced innovations in the classroom, the home, for stakeholders connected with autism, and sustainable forms of computing in everyday life. He has been the founding Editor-in-Chief for two major journals and is the most highly cited researcher in HCI and ubiquitous computing in the world, according to csrankings.org (the second two are both his former PhD students). Dr. Abowd is a Fellow of the ACM and an elected member of the ACM SIGCHI Academy. He was a 2009 recipient of the ACM Eugene Lawler Humanitarian Contributions within Computer Science and Informatics. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Honors Mathematics (summa cum laude) from the University of Notre Dame in 1986 as well as a Master of Science (1987) and Doctor of Philosophy (1991) in Computation from the University of Oxford, where he attended as a Rhodes Scholar.


    Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 132

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Department of Computer Science

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  • DEN@Viterbi: How to Apply Virtual Info Session

    Thu, Nov 10, 2022 @ 05:00 PM - 06:00 PM

    DEN@Viterbi, Viterbi School of Engineering Graduate Admission

    Workshops & Infosessions


    Join USC Viterbi representatives for a step-by-step guide and tips for how to apply for formal admission into a Master's degree or Graduate Certificate program. The session is intended for individuals who wish to pursue a graduate degree program completely online via USC Viterbi's flexible online DEN@Viterbi delivery method.

    Attendees will have the opportunity to connect directly with USC Viterbi representatives and ask questions about the admission process throughout the session.

    Register Now!

    WebCast Link: https://uscviterbi.webex.com/uscviterbi/onstage/g.php?MTID=eed424d6851f20d2ac4206d0ab25c8257

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Corporate & Professional Programs

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  • AthenaHacks x WIE x Fragment Fireside Chat

    Thu, Nov 10, 2022 @ 05:00 PM - 06:00 PM

    Viterbi School of Engineering Student Affairs

    Workshops & Infosessions


    AthenaHacks is hosting a FinTech Fireside Chat event with FRAGMENT and Women in Engineering.

    Join us on Nov 10 (Thu) at 5-6pm in RTH109 for a casual fireside chat about all things Fintech with FRAGMENT software engineers Alex and Jerry.

    Alex Cattron (any/all) is an agender person who has worked in the tech industry for 10 years as a software engineer and product manager and is excited about the software development process, user-centered design, and design systems.

    Jerry Tsui (he/him) is USC alumni (class of 2019, CS) who worked at Robinhood for 3 years on full-stack and infrastructure teams before joining Fragment. During his time at SC, Jerry was involved with AthenaHacks, CTC, and Scope.

    We’ll be exploring what FinTech is, where it’s going, and open the floor for open conversation about what it’s like to be in the industry, what type of work we do day-to-day, etc.

    This event is open to women and any individuals with a marginalized gender identity. Snacks and beverages will be provided for registered and checked-in participants! Please check in an hour before the event begins.

    Visit our website to learn more about AthenaHacks 2023! https://athenahacks.com/

    Location: Sign into EngageSC to View Location

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Maia Calderon-Ramos

    Event Link: https://engage.usc.edu/WIE/rsvp?id=387562

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