Topic: Vignettes of AI research: Foundations of Unsupervised Learning, and Social Robotics
Date: 27th Jan 2022. 4.00 pm
Prof. Govindan Rangarajan, Director, IISc., will preside
Abstract: Artificial Intelligence (AI) based systems have made rapid progress in the last decade leading to revolutionary changes in several disciplines such as Medical Imaging, Autonomous Driving etc. However, most of today’s AI systems are largely based on Supervised learning wherein the underlying machines are trained by inputs labelled by humans. The ability to learn from the environment without labels, often called Unsupervised Learning, is now considered as the next big challenge in AI. In this talk we will focus on the foundations of Unsupervised Learning where many fundamental challenges remain. Some are statistical in nature, such as Model Complexity and Sample complexity, while some are algorithmic, including the challenge of provably learning the parameters of the model from finite amount of data in polynomial time. I will present several recent results, derived from ideas drawn from the disciplines of Computational Geometry and Statistical Mechanics, which furthers the theory behind several un-supervised learning models. Finally, I will consider Social Robotics, a sub-field of robotics, as a medium for providing Teaching Assistance to Special Educators in providing therapy to children on the Autism spectrum. Contrary to existing understanding , our results show that robotic toys could provide effective intervention.
About the Speaker: Chiranjib Bhattacharyya is currently Professor and Chair of the Department of Computer Science and Automation, Indian Institute of Science. His research interests are in foundations of Machine Learning, Optimisation and their applications to Industrial problems. He has authored numerous papers in leading journals and conferences in Machine Learning. Some of his results have won best paper awards. He joined the Department of CSA, IISc, in 2002 as an Assistant Professor. Prior to joining the Department, he was a postdoctoral fellow at UC Berkeley. He holds BE and ME degrees, both in Electrical Engineering, from Jadavpur University and the Indian Institute of Science, respectively, and completed his PhD from the Department of Computer Science and Automation, Indian Institute of Science. He is also a fellow of Indian Academy of Engineering. For more information about his work please see http://mllab.csa.iisc.ac.in
