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Maths, AI and intuition with Geordie Williamson: Sydney Ideas event
March 15, 2022 @ 18:00
Free
This public event took place on 15 March 2022. To receive updates about SMRI Public Events, please subscribe to the mailing list.
Artificial intelligence is one of the defining technologies of the 21st century. Over the last 15 years, machine learning models have learnt to perform tasks that humans find easy, such as speech and image recognition. However many problems are still out of the reach of AI, including most unsolved problems in pure mathematics.
In this talk, hosted by mathematician and MC, Adam Spencer, SMRI Director Professor Geordie Williamson explored how machine learning can help with the intuitive aspects of mathematical research. Geordie carried out one of the first applications of AI in pure mathematics, in collaboration with Oxford University mathematicians and DeepMind, the AI company of AlphaGo fame. The results were published in the prestigious scientific journal Nature in December 2021.
Geordie and the DeepMind team used machine learning models to uncover surprising patterns in mathematical objects, leading to progress on problems that have puzzled mathematicians for decades.
View the post-event news post for a photo gallery and companion articles, as well as the event recording:
About the speaker: Professor Geordie Williamson FAA FRS is Director of the Sydney Mathematical Research Institute and a world-leading expert in representation theory, the mathematical theory of symmetry. Among other awards, he is a recipient of the Clay Research Award, the Chevalley Prize of the American Mathematics Society and 2017 New Horizons in Mathematics Prize.
About the MC: Adam Spencer, Mathematics and Science Ambassador for the University of Sydney, is a best-selling author and science communicator.