Alladi Ramakrishnan Hall

From the mind to magnets... and back again: Hopfield and Hinton's quest to bridge physics and AI

Sitabhra Sinha

IMSc Chennai

The millennia-old division between physical and living systems has been gradually breaking down from the middle of the last century. Ever since the 1940s, when Bohr, Schrodinger, McCulloch, Pitts and other scientists showed that aspects of both life and mind can be understood in terms of simple physical models, it's becoming clear that living organisms can be understood using only physico-chemical processes without requiring any "vitalism"-like property that is supposedly unique to living systems. That life and mind are just processes which emerge through interaction between inanimate components is shown brilliantly in the elegant work of Hopfield, later extended by Hinton, that was honored by the Nobel Committee this year. In this talk we will trace how physics illuminated and inspired the breakthroughs that eventually led to deep learning and the present era of AI.


Zoom link: zoom.us/j/99575465161
Meeting ID: 995 7546 5161
Passcode: 525389