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M.I.T. Plans College for Artificial Intelligence, Backed by $1B

nytimes.com

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Re: M.I.T. Plans College for Artificial Intelligence, Backed by $1B

#91

Post by StreamBright »

dubya123 wrote: post #20
Puer wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unfortunately, I think statistics will continue to be under-appreciated. All of my mathematics professors in undergraduate said that statistics and linear algebra are the two most useful fields of math to know and that dedicating time to studying them will pay dividends. It still surprises me when I apply for jobs today how few places, even financial or scientific firms, distinguish between statistics and mathematics…

I don't know what job postings you are seeing but the vast majority of Data Scientist/ML Engineer postings at large tech companies that I've seen explicitly mention Statistics as a requisite skill.

Sure, and most of time they do not vet the candidate during the interview. Even if they do, they ask basic questions about normal distributions and other basic concepts.

Re: M.I.T. Plans College for Artificial Intelligence, Backed by $1B

#92

Post by nafizh »

corndoge wrote: post #9

College of Statistics and Nonlinear Function Approximation

This type of condescension is precisely why I am glad I was introduced to the field of ML/pattern recognition/statistical learning (whatever you want to call) through a course from the CS department rather than the statistics department.

I have always felt course offerings from CS are more approachable/amenable to beginners in this area. Maybe anecdotal, but statistics depts. have a gate-keeping attitude , a sense of 'oh you don't know the math already? too bad, we are not for you'.

P.S: Approachable/amenable does not mean it cannot be rigorous or you have to cut short the math. You just built up gradually rather than throwing math books in people's face from the very beginning.

Re: M.I.T. Plans College for Artificial Intelligence, Backed by $1B

#93

Post by LeanderK »

ghaff wrote: post #85
jsharf wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder if this attitude was a thing when CS was first introduced as a major. At the time it must have looked like someone basically took a tiny part of electrical engineering and made it into it's own field of study.

CS is actually an interesting case. Historically, it was as likely to be part of the math department as it was to be part of electrical engineering. In part, this was because at the time electrical engineering was much more about analog circuits, power systems, etc.

in germany, you can still see the impact on whether CS emerged out of math or EE in the curriculums. When you have a lot of low-level programming, operating-systems, designing hardware etc. the departement was born in EE. If the emphasis is more on math, they teach you an abstract view on "computers" (the turing machine/lambda calculus as the foundation of computing) and view processors as just an application, it came from the math-departement. It's probably the same in the rest of the world.

Re: M.I.T. Plans College for Artificial Intelligence, Backed by $1B

#94

Post by sjg007 »

Puer wrote: post #29
sjg007 wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pretty sure MIT offers stats and linear algebra.

I don't doubt it and I don't doubt that M.I.T. will create an intensive AI college. My point was that a lot of universities, even distinguished ones, are recognizing that there's a real demand and hype for "AI/Data Science" degrees and in an effort to maximize enrollment and appeal they often minimize the mathematical and statistical requirements. I don't believe that you need an advanced degree to become a component…

You can have linear algebra and stats for the ML engineer classes as coursework. Most sciences have an applied linear algebra class which doesn't require the proof heavy math version. And most colleges require a year of stats. I think though while linear algebra for the sake of linear algebra is good, it isn't strictly necessary for AI and you can learn what you need. If you want to go deeper then go deeper. You could argue you need a class in ODEs and stochastic optimal control theory to understand RL, but you don't really. Maybe in grad school, maybe in some research area inside of RL but not in undergrad. Of course the linear algebra will help you. The best thing would be that the RL, control systems, stats, physicists and other related folks would start speaking the same language.

Re: M.I.T. Plans College for Artificial Intelligence, Backed by $1B

#95

Post by skeptic_69 »

thrmsforbfast wrote: post #75
randcraw wrote: post #46

This sounds like a direct response to two things (mostly): 1) CMU establishing a 'department' of AI (where MIT had merely an AI track within the CS program), and 2) Kai-Fu Lee's recent book on the rise and inevitable domination by China of all things AI-related -- inviting a new 'space race' between the superpowers. (A 'brain race'?) Yet I can't imagine why an entire 'college' of AI is needed. AI simply isn't a field…

> 1) CMU establishing a 'department' of AI (where MIT had merely an AI track within the CS program) CMU's Machine Learning Department was founded in 2006, before the current AI hype cycle started. If this is MIT's response to a 'department' of AI, then MIT has been asleep for >10 years. Perhaps you mean CMU's new undergraduate AI degree. But that is not a new department. It's merely a separate major within the existi…

CMU does have a department of machine learning fyi. which is probably what the other guy was referring to since to most people ML = AI and AI = ML

Re: M.I.T. Plans College for Artificial Intelligence, Backed by $1B

#96

Post by skeptic_69 »

mattferderer wrote: post #59
randcraw wrote: post #46

This sounds like a direct response to two things (mostly): 1) CMU establishing a 'department' of AI (where MIT had merely an AI track within the CS program), and 2) Kai-Fu Lee's recent book on the rise and inevitable domination by China of all things AI-related -- inviting a new 'space race' between the superpowers. (A 'brain race'?) Yet I can't imagine why an entire 'college' of AI is needed. AI simply isn't a field…

MIT was one of the earliest leaders in sharing course material online for free. I wish they would take that $1 billion & invest it in modernizing online education. If you want to be a leader in AI, I argue you should open your doors to as many applicants as possible from all over the world at an affordable price. Discover a better way to improve collaboration & online learning. EdX & Coursera are nice but they seem t…

I think if you want to be a leader in AI research you want to attract and nurture the best graduate students and researchers. I don't really know how much doing good research has to do with good online education. I am sure online education is useful but these issues don't really have much in common.

Re: M.I.T. Plans College for Artificial Intelligence, Backed by $1B

#97

Post by zjaffee »

locacorten wrote: post #47

I have been and continue to remain very skeptical about all this hoopla about AI. Five years ago, I thought the hoopla about AI is just a fashion and it's all going to quickly pass. Two years ago, I thought it's a bubble that will eventually burst. At this point, I'm wondering whether what's happening is pure re-branding where we'll stop using the term CS and instead use the term AI. If I think of AI as CS, I'm ok wi…

I think that AI is just a rebranding of all automation, especially in the case where it's data driven automation. So I don't think it is something that will just pass, but will become a term for the interdisciplinary field of solving interdisciplinary problems with computers and data.

Re: M.I.T. Plans College for Artificial Intelligence, Backed by $1B

#98

Post by ryanmarsh »

YeGoblynQueenne wrote: post #79

I wish top-rated institutions stopped pretending "AI" means "the last 6 years in statistical machine learning". But I guess we all have our pet peeves, eh?

I wish top-rated institutions stoped pretending "Physics" means "the last 6 years in Electricity/Chemistry/etc..."

- Someone circa 18-hundred-something

shrugs

The two things people dislike the most, the way things are, and when they change.

Re: M.I.T. Plans College for Artificial Intelligence, Backed by $1B

#99

Post by perennate »

randcraw wrote: post #46

This sounds like a direct response to two things (mostly): 1) CMU establishing a 'department' of AI (where MIT had merely an AI track within the CS program), and 2) Kai-Fu Lee's recent book on the rise and inevitable domination by China of all things AI-related -- inviting a new 'space race' between the superpowers. (A 'brain race'?) Yet I can't imagine why an entire 'college' of AI is needed. AI simply isn't a field…

MIT's news article [1] has more concrete information. The NYT article is a bit misleading.

It is a College of Computing, not College of AI. Also note that MIT has Schools (School of Engineering, School of Science, etc.), not Colleges; so this will be something different.

For example, according to MIT's FAQ [2], EECS Department will likely continue to be part of School of Engineering, even as it becomes part of College of Computing.

In particular:

> The College will reorient MIT to bring the power of computing and AI to all fields of study at MIT, allowing the future of computing and AI to be shaped by insights from all other disciplines;

> Q: Why is this a college, rather than a school? What is the difference?

> A: The MIT Schwarzman College of Computing will work with and across all five of MIT’s existing schools. Its naming as a college differentiates it from the five schools, and signals that it is an Institute-wide entity: The College is designed with cross-cutting education and research as its primary missions.

> Q: What kinds of new joint academic programs or degrees are envisioned?

> A: MIT has been making progress in this direction for some time; for example, we already offer undergraduate majors that pair computer science with economics, biology, mathematics, and urban planning. The MIT Schwarzman College of Computing will allow MIT to respond to the student demand the Institute is seeing in course and major/minor selection more effectively and creatively. It will enable MIT to pursue this vision with unprecedented depth and ambition, and will give MIT’s five schools a shared structure for collaborative education, research, and innovation in computing and AI.

[1] http://news.mit.edu/2018/mit-reshapes-itself-stephen-schwarz...

[2] http://news.mit.edu/2018/faq-mit-stephen-schwarzman-college-...

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