Day two of the Heidelberg Laureate Forum began with an interdisciplinary panel discussion between mathematicians and computer scientists. The panel featured Eric Brewer (ACM Prize in Computing – 2009), Alexei Efros (ACM Prize in Computing – 2016), Shigefumi Mori (Fields Medal – 1990), Carlos Kenig (President, International Mathematical Union) and Cherri M. Pancake (Oregon State University).

The panelists discussed some of the future challenges of math and computer science, including scaling issues for cloud computing and storage, scientific AI applications, but even simply coming up with accurate definitions of the problems that require solving.

Following a short break, Avi Wigderson, Nevanlinna Prize (1994) and Abel Prize (2021) recipient came on stage to hold his lecture entitled “Imitation Games.” Using the famous “Turing Test” – a method of evaluating the abilities of machines to behave as humans – Wigderson demonstrated how the power of this basic idea could be applied towards a vast array of diverse settings.

The highlight of the day was the Hot Topic session on “Deep Learning – Applications and Implications”. This extensive panel featured a host of experts (Dina Machuve (DevData Analytics), Been Kim (Google Brain), Shakir Mohamed (DeepMind), Shannon Vallor (Director, Centre for Technomoral Futures)) and laureates (Raj Reddy (ACM A.M. Turing Award), Sanjeev Arora (ACM Prize in Computing), Yoshua Bengio (ACM A.M. Turing Award), Yann LeCun (ACM A.M. Turing Award). The discussion dissected the potential but also some of the obstacles and perils associated with the field of deep learning.

The panelists debated not only technological hurdles that needed overcoming, but embraced wide-ranging discussions on the philosophical and moral quandaries that complex deep learning technologies bring.

The evening closed out with the attendees visiting the Speyer Museum of Technology, where they were treated to a Science Slam onstage. Young researchers competed not only for the most fascinating, but also most entertaining short presentations.

Official photos can be found on the HLF’s Flickr account.

Check out our HLFF Blog for fascinating articles about the 9th HLF.

Find all talks and panels from the 9th HLF, as well as our Vlog on our YouTube channel.

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Category: HLFF Forum