Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Events for November
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Epstein Institute, ISE 651 Seminar ClassTue, Nov 05, 2024 @ 03:30 PM - 04:50 PM
Daniel J. Epstein Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: TBD, TBD
Talk Title: TBD
Host: TBD
Location: Social Sciences Building (SOS) - B2
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Casi Jones/ ISE
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Shifting the Frame: The Labors of ImageNet and AI Data
Wed, Nov 06, 2024 @ 02:00 PM - 03:00 PM
Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Dr. Alex Hanna, Director of Research, Distributed AI Research Institute (DAIR)
Talk Title: Shifting the Frame: The Labors of ImageNet and AI Data
Abstract: Artificial intelligence (AI) technologies like ChatGPT, Stable Diffusion, and LaMDA have led a multi-billion dollar industry in generative AI, and a potentially much larger industry in AI more generally. However, these technologies would not exist were it not for the immense amount of data mined to make them run, low-paid and exploited annotation labor required for labeling and content moderation, and questionable arrangements around consent to use these data. Although datasets used to train and evaluate commercial models are often obscured from view under the shroud of trade secrecy, we can learn a great deal about these systems by interrogating certain publicly available datasets which are considered foundational in academic AI research.
In this talk, I investigate a single dataset, ImageNet. It is not an understatement to say that without ImageNet, we may not have the current wave of deep learning techniques which power nearly all modern AI technologies. I begin from three vantage points: the histories of ImageNet from the perspective of its curators and its linguistic predecessor WordNet, the testimony of the data annotators which labeled millions of ImageNet images, and the data subjects and the creators of the images within ImageNet. Academically, I situate this analysis within a larger theory and practice of infrastructure studies. Practically, I point to a vision for technology which is not based on practices of unrestricted data mining, exploited labor, and the use of images without meaningful consent.
This lecture satisfies requirements for CSCI 591: Research Colloquium.
Biography: Dr. Alex Hanna is Director of Research at the Distributed AI Research Institute (DAIR). A sociologist by training, her work centers on the data used in new computational technologies, and the ways in which these data exacerbate racial, gender, and class inequality. She also works in the area of social movements, focusing on the dynamics of anti-racist campus protest in the US and Canada. She holds a BS in Computer Science and Mathematics and a BA in Sociology from Purdue University, and an MS and a PhD in Sociology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Dr. Hanna has published widely in top-tier venues across the social sciences, including the journals Mobilization, American Behavioral Scientist, and Big Data & Society, and top-tier computer science conferences such as CSCW, FAccT, and NeurIPS. Dr. Hanna serves as a Senior Fellow at the Center for Applied Transgender Studies, and sits on the advisory board for the Human Rights Data Analysis Group and the Scholars Council for the UCLA Center for Critical Internet Inquiry.
She is a recipient of the Wisconsin Alumni Association’s Forward Award, has been included on FastCompany’s Queer 50 and Go Magazine’s Women We Love lists, and has been featured in the Cal Academy of Sciences New Science exhibit, which highlights queer and trans scientists of color.
With Emily M. Bender, Dr. Hanna runs the Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000 series, playfully and wickedly tearing apart AI hype for a live audience online on Twitch and on their podcast.
Host: CAIS
More Info: https://cais.usc.edu/events/usc-cais-webinar-with-dr-alex-hanna/
Location: Michelson Center for Convergent Bioscience (MCB) - 101
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science
Event Link: https://cais.usc.edu/events/usc-cais-webinar-with-dr-alex-hanna/
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Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering
Fri, Nov 08, 2024 @ 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: John Rogers, Ph.D., Louis Simpson and Kimberly Querrey Professor of Mterials Science and Engineering, Biomedical and Neurological Surgery
Talk Title: Soft, Skin-Interfaced Electronic and Microfluidic Systems for Health Monitoring
Abstract: Over the last decade, a convergence of new concepts in materials science, biomedical engineering, electrical engineering and advanced manufacturing has led to the emergence of diverse, classes of 'biocompatible' electronic and microfluidic systems with skin-like physical properties and wireless operational capabilities. A broad range of clinical-grade sensors of physiological health can be deployed into these platforms. The resulting technologies address health care challenges from the earliest to the latest stages of life, with demonstrated uses in both high and low resource settings, at the hospital and in the home. This talk presents an overview of the most recent fundamental and translational activities in this area, currently in progress at the Querrey-Simpson Institute for Bioelectronics at Northwestern University and at several associated companies.
Biography: Professor John A. Rogers began his career at Bell Laboratories as a Member of Technical Staff in the Condensed Matter Physics Research Department in 1997 and served as Director from the end of 2000 to 2002. He then spent thirteen years at the University of Illinois, as the Swanlund Chair Professor and Director of the Seitz Materials Research Laboratory. In 2016, he joined Northwestern University as the Simpson/Querrey Professor, where he is also Director of the Institute for Bioelectronics. He has co-authored more than 900 papers and he is co-inventor on more than 100 patents. His research has been recognized by many awards, including a MacArthur Fellowship (2009), the Lemelson-MIT Prize (2011), the Smithsonian Award for American Ingenuity in the Physical Sciences (2013), the Benjamin Franklin Medal (2019), a Guggenheim Fellowship (2021), the NAS James Prize for Science and Technology Integration (2022) and the IEEE Biomedical Engineering Medal (2024). He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Medicine, the National Academy of Inventors and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Host: Maral Mousavi
Location: Corwin D. Denney Research Center (DRB) - 145
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Carla Stanard
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Epstein Institute, ISE 651 Seminar Class
Tue, Nov 12, 2024 @ 03:30 PM - 04:50 PM
Daniel J. Epstein Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Dr. Jeff Shamma, Professor, Department Head, and Jerry S. Dobrovolny Chair, Department of Industrial & Enterprise Systems Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana
Talk Title: TBD
Host: TBD
Location: Social Sciences Building (SOS) - B2
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Casi Jones/ ISE
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Epstein Institute, ISE 651 Seminar Class
Tue, Nov 19, 2024 @ 03:30 PM - 04:50 PM
Daniel J. Epstein Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: TBD, TBD
Talk Title: TBD
Host: TBD
Location: Social Sciences Building (SOS) - B2
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Casi Jones/ ISE
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USC CAIS Seminar with Dr. David Shmoys
Wed, Nov 20, 2024 @ 02:00 PM - 03:00 PM
Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Dr. David Shmoys, Laibe/Acheson Professor, Business Management and Leadership Studies - Cornell University
Talk Title: USC CAIS Seminar with Dr. David Shmoys
Abstract: More details to follow.
This lecture satisfies requirements for CSCI 591: Research Colloquium.
Biography: Coming Soon.
Host: CAIS
More Info: https://cais.usc.edu/events/usc-cais-seminar-with-dr-david-shmoys/
Location: Michelson Center for Convergent Bioscience (MCB) - 101
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science
Event Link: https://cais.usc.edu/events/usc-cais-seminar-with-dr-david-shmoys/
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**No Epstein Institute, ISE 651 Seminar Class - Thanksgiving Recess**
Tue, Nov 26, 2024 @ 03:30 PM - 04:50 PM
Daniel J. Epstein Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Location: Social Sciences Building (SOS) - B2
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Casi Jones/ ISE
