Welcome to the INNS Webinar Series. This collection of webinars serves as a virtual learning center for students and professionals to learn and engage in research activities related to neural networks.
The portal features lectures from our Webinar Series. You are invited to attend the webinars live, held bi-monthly.
Abstract: AI today can pass the Turing test and is in the process of transforming science, technology, humans, and society. Surprisingly modern AI is built out of two very simple and old ideas, rebranded as deep learning: neural networks and gradient descent learning. The storage of information in neural networks by gradient descent is distributed or "holographic", and since Dennis Gabor invented holography, I am particularly honored to be a recipient of the prize that bears his name. I will describe several applications of AI to problems in biomedicine developed in my laboratory, from the molecular level to the patient level, using omic data, imaging data, and clinical data. Examples include the analysis of circadian rhythms in gene expression data, the identification of polyps in colonoscopies, and the prediction of post-operative outcomes. I will discuss the opportunities and challenges for developing, integrating, and deploying AI in the first AI-driven hospitals of the future and present two frameworks for addressing some of the most pressing societal issues related to AI research and safety.
Speaker Bio: Pierre Baldi earned MS degrees in Mathematics and Psychology from the University of Paris, and a PhD in Mathematics from the California Institute of Technology. He is currently Distinguished Professor in the Department of Computer Science, Founding Director of the AI in Science Institute, and Associate Director of the Center for Machine Learning and Intelligent Systems at the University of California Irvine. The long term focus of his research is on understanding intelligence in brains and machines. He has made several contributions to the theory of AI and deep learning, and developed and applied AI and deep learning methods for problems in engineering and the natural sciences, for instance in physics (e.g., exotic particle detection) , chemistry (e.g., reaction prediction), and bio-medicine (e.g., protein structure prediction, biomedical imaging analysis). He has published five books, including Deep Learning in Science, Cambridge University Press (2021) and ~500 scientific articles. His honors include the 1993 Lew Allen Award at JPL, the 2010 E. R. Caianiello Prize for research in machine learning, the 2023 Dennis Gabor Award of the International Neural Network Society, and election to Fellow of the AAAS, AAAI, IEEE, ACM, and ISCB. He serves as Associated Editor for Artificial Intelligence, Neural Networks, and the IEEE/ACM Transactions in Computational Biology and Bioinformatics. He has mentored ~100 graduate students and postdoctoral fellows and co-founded several startup companies. At UCI, he has introduced several new courses, including the course: Neural Networks and Deep Learning, and the course: AI Frontiers: Technical, Ethical, and Societal.
Abstract:This talk will provide an introductory overview of the EU's landmark regulation on AI, the AI Act. It will specifically seek to address the role of experts in its development, the foreseen impact on the technical and research communities, and how these can support its implementation. Furthermore, the talk will give participants an opportunity to learn more about the role of the Joint Research Centre, the European Commission's science and knowledge service, in the shaping of the AI Act. Lastly, it will introduce the Commission's AI in Science Strategy, currently undergoing a public consultation.
Emilia Gómez Bio: She was the 1st female president of the International Society for Music Information Retrieval, is a member of the OECD One AI expert group, an ELLIS fellow, and her work has been recognized by means of citations and honors, e.g. EUWomen4Future, Red Cross Award to Humanitarian Technologies or ICREA Academia.
Elinor Wahal Bio: Elinor Wahal is a Legal and Policy Officer at the European Commission’s AI Office, working in the AI Regulation and Compliance Unit. As an EU and International AI Governance Expert, Elinor contributes to the European Commission's Artificial intelligence policy development, its AI regulatory framework, as well as the European Union's international strategy for AI policy.
Prior to joining the European Commission, Elinor was Director at the global business advisory firm FTI Consulting, where she led the activities on European and International AI policy.
Elinor’s experience also includes working with WHO’s digital health team and the OECD. In Paris, she worked on AI and its policy implications at the French National Institute for Research in Digital Science & Technology, and she lectured on Innovation at the Polytechnic Institute of Paris.
Elinor was editor of the collective volume Unboxing AI: Understanding Artificial Intelligence (Fondazione Feltrinelli Editore, 2021), and authored multiple international academic publications on AI and digital policy.
Irwin King
10 April 2025
