ICTP Colloquium on Friday 19 Nov at 17:00 LB

[Info Point]

*ICTP COLLOQUIUM 17:00, Friday, 19 November 2010 Main Lecture Hall, 
Leonardo Building, ICTP Luis von Ahn Computer Science Department 
Carnegie Mellon University* "Human Computation"

ABSTRACT This talk is about harnessing human time and energy to address 
problems that computers cannot yet solve. Although computers have 
advanced dramatically in many respects over the last 50 years, they 
still do not possess the basic conceptual intelligence or perceptual 
capabilities that most humans take for granted. By leveraging human 
skills and abilities in a novel way, I want to solve large-scale 
computational problems and collect training data to teach computers many 
of the basic human talents. To this end, I treat human brains as 
processors in a distributed system, each performing a small part of a 
massive computation. Unlike computer processors,however, humans require 
an incentive in order to become part of a collective computation. Among 
other things, I show how to use online games as a means to encourage 
participation in the process.

BIO Professor Luis von Ahn works in the Computer Science Department at 
Carnegie Mellon University. His current research interests include 
encouraging people to do work for free, as well as catching and 
thwarting cheaters in online environments. He is the recipient of a 
MacArthur Fellowship, a Packard Fellowship, a Microsoft New Faculty 
Fellowship,and a Sloan Research Fellowship. He has been named one of the 
50 Best Minds in Science by Discover Magazine, one of the 100 Most 
Creative People in Business of 2010 by Fast Company Magazine, one of the 
"Brilliant 10" scientists of 2006 by Popular Science Magazine, one of 
the 50 most influential people in technology by Silicon.com, and one of 
the Top Innovators in the Arts and Sciences by Smithsonian Magazine.