hi, would the following talk announcement be of interest to the FMT group? thanks, ram On the occasion of World Logic Day, January 14, 2025, the DLMPST Commission on Logic Education invites you to a webinar by Professor Moshe Vardi. Date: January 14, 2025 Time: 0700 CST, 1300 GMT, 1400 CET, 1830 IST, 2100 (Beijing) Zoom Link: URL: https://cmi-ac-in.zoom.us/j/89055168551?pwd=7SeShMDEKSLw1wy6ZaZj4JEa0hiuqE.1 Meeting ID: 890 5516 8551 Passcode: gangesha Talk details: Machine Learning and Logic: Fast and Slow Thinking Moshe Y. Vardi Rice University Computer science seems to be undergoing a paradigm shift. Much of earlier research was conducted in the framework of well-understood formal models. In contrast, some of the hottest trends today shun formal models and rely on massive data sets and machine learning. A cannonical example of this change is the shift in AI from logic programming to deep learning. I will argue that the correct metaphore for this development is not paradigm shift, but paradigm expansion. Just as General Relativity augments Newtonian Mechanics, rather than replace it -- we went to the moon, after all, using Newtonian Mechanics -- data-driven computing augments model-driven computing. In the context of Artificial Intelligence, machine learning and logic correspond to the two modes of human thinking: fast thinking and slow thinking. The challenge today is to integrate the model-driven and data-driven paradigms. I will describe one approach to such an integration -- making logic more quantitative. I will conclude by discussing implications for computer-science education. Speaker Bio: Moshe Y. Vardi is a University Professor, and the George Distinguished Service Professor in Computational Engineering at Rice University. He is the author and co-author of close to 800 papers, as well as two books. He is the recipient of several scientific awards, is a fellow of several societies, and a member of several honorary academies. He holds ten honorary titles. He is a Senior Editor of Communications of the ACM, the premier publication in computing, focusing on societal impact of information technology. -- R Ramanujam