Lisbon AI Seminar

Introduction to neural networks - perspectives from engineering and philosophy

Sala 2.2.12, Ciências ULisboa

Por Vitor Santos (Nova IMS).

The seminar seeks to provide participants with a set of concepts, techniques and algorithms for understanding Artificial Neural Networks (ANN). The various relevant aspects of the definition of an ANN will be addressed, separating the foundational aspects from the technological and philosophical aspects. In this context, the following topics will be covered in a multidiciplinary approach: Neurobiology fundamentals; McCulloch & Pitts’ Neuron; Hebb’s Law; Simple Pattern Recognition Networks: (Perceptron, Adaline); Unsupervised Competition-based networks; Multilayered artificial neural networks; Deep Learning.

Bio: Vítor Santos is an Assistant Professor at NOVA Information Management School (NOVA IMS) of the New University of Lisbon where he teaches “Information Systems” and “Artificial Intelligence” in several Computer Science and Information Systems programs and is an integrated researcher at MagIC. Previously he was Visiting Professor at the University of Trás os Montes e Alto Douro (UTAD) and at the University of Minho (UM). He is a member of several scientific committees of national and international conferences, the editorial boards of several journals and author of several academic articles (>150). He is a senior member of the Order of Engineers where he was an elected member of the National College of Computer Engineering for 3 terms. He was a member of the Board of APDSI. Although currently his main occupation is university teaching in the area of computer science, he has professional experience in the software industry of more than 20 years: namely he was the Academic Computer Science Program Manager at Microsoft Portugal, being responsible for developing actions to support research, innovation and teaching in Portuguese Universities and, previously, he held several director and managerial positions in companies of the Santander bank and developed Software Engineering activities in several projects (>40 projects). Vitor Santos holds a PhD in Information Science and Systems and Technology from the University of Minho, a BSc in Computer Engineering from Cocite, a Post-Graduate degree in Computer Science from the Faculty of Science of the University of Lisbon, an MSc in Information Systems Science from the University of Minho, a D.E.A. from the University of Minho and the title of Specialist in Computer Science from the Polytechnic Institutes of Guarda, Viseu and Castelo Branco. He is completing a second PhD in Cultural Studies at FLUL.


O Lisbon AI Seminar é uma reunião científica interdisciplinar, periódica, que tem como objetivo apresentar temas ligados à Filosofia da Inteligência Artificial a partir de domínios científicos diversos, das Ciências da Computação, à Física e à Biologia e às Ciências Sociais e Humanas. O seminário ocorre mensalmente com a duração entre 1h e 1h30 no formato misto, presencial e por zoom, tendo habitualmente um orador convidado. Com o Lisbon AI Seminar pretende-se ampliar a área de investigação em Filosofia da Computação e da Inteligência Artificial iniciada no CFCUL em 2022, procurando-se fomentar a reflexão e debate em torno da natureza e impacto da Inteligência Artificial nas sociedades contemporâneas. Pretende-se tornar a discussão abrangente, recenseando preocupações gerais, tais como a implementação artificial da mente e suas consequências, o impacto da IA na produção de conhecimento científico, as implicações éticas das aplicações da IA, ou sobre os efeitos sociais, económicos e políticos da IA.

11h00-12h30
CFCUL/GI2: Klaus Gärtner, Paulo Castro e João Luís Cordovil