Events Calendar

CS Colloquium: Alvaro Velasquez (DARPA) - Neuro-Symbolic Transfer and Optimization

Speaker: Alvaro Velasquez, DARPA

Talk Title: Neuro-Symbolic Transfer and Optimization

Series: CS Colloquium

Abstract: Neuro-symbolic artificial intelligence (NSAI) has experienced a renaissance and gained much traction in recent years as a potential "third wave" of AI to follow the tremendously successful second wave underpinned by statistical deep learning. NSAI seeks the integration of neural learning systems and formal symbolic reasoning for more efficient, robust, and explainable AI. This integration has been successful in classification and reinforcement learning, among other areas, but its application to transfer learning and combinatorial optimization remains largely unexplored. In this talk, we will cover recent advancements for the integration of symbolic structures in transferring knowledge between agents in the context of reinforcement learning and planning for sequential decision-making. We will also explore the concept of dataless neural networks as a framework for integrating combinatorial optimization problems and learning models. We conclude with a vision for these areas and the technical challenges that follow.

This lecture satisfies requirements for CSCI 591: Research Colloquium

Biography: Alvaro Velasquez is a program manager in the Innovation Information Office (I2O) of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), where he currently leads programs on neuro-symbolic AI. Before that, Alvaro oversaw the machine intelligence portfolio of investments for the Information Directorate of the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL). Alvaro received his PhD in Computer Science from the University of Central Florida in 2018 and is a recipient of the distinguished paper award from AAAI, best paper and patent awards from AFRL, the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program (NSF GRFP) award, the University of Central Florida 30 Under 30 award. He has authored over 60 papers and two patents and serves as Associate Editor of the IEEE Transactions on Artificial Intelligence. His research has been funded by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research.

Host: Jyo Deshmukh

Location: Olin Hall of Engineering (OHE) - 132

Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Assistant to CS chair