Panel discussion: Lessons from Breakthrough CS Research

What made Xerox PARC so successful in the 1970s, and why was it eventually eclipsed by Apple? Why did neural networks look so implausible in the 1980s? Are computer science and artificial intelligence poised to revolutionize our world for the better, or are the threats so great that we should shift gears into reverse and constrain or even resist technology?

In a seminar to celebrate the publication of James Morris’s recently published memoir, Thoughts of a Reformed Computer Scientist, we’ll hear from Morris about his experiences at Berkeley, MIT, PARC and CMU, and his fears and hopes for the future, along with brief talks from David Gifford, Butler Lampson and Daniela Rus.

Panel info:
James Morris received his PhD from MIT in computer science before a computer science program existed; worked on the Alto at Xerox PARC; was CS department head at CMU and founded the HCI Institute and CMU Silicon Valley. His first summer intern at PARC was a student called Eric Schmidt.

David Gifford is Professor of Computer Science and Engineering and Professor of Biological Engineering, and founder of Think Therapeutics, which is pioneering the use of machine learning in vaccine design.

Butler Lampson was a founder of Xerox PARC, won the Turing Award for his contributions to personal computing, and is a technical fellow at Microsoft and Adjunct Professor of Computer Science at MIT.

Daniela Rus is the Director of CSAIL, Andrew and Erna Viterbi Professor of Computer Science, and recipient of the MacArthur “genius award.” Her research interests include robotics, mobile computing, and data science.

Daniel Jackson is Professor of Computer Science and Associate Director of CSAIL, and author of the recently published book The Essence of Software: Why Concepts Matter for Great Design.

Location:
Patil/Kiva 32-G449
- or -
via Zoom (contact events@csail.mit.edu for Zoom details)