July 11, 2019: What is an algorithm?

Thursday, July 11, 2019, from 4:30 p.m. to 8 p.m., UM Polytech, Serge Peytavin lecture hall (Triolet campus, building 31),
. Free registration is required. Cocktail reception to follow.
. Please note: construction work may extend travel time from the tram station.

What is an algorithm?

Registration is free but mandatory

Abstract:
Developments in artificial intelligence have sparked numerous debates about the role it could soon play in human societies. The range of possibilities opened up by these techniques is generating both enthusiasm and concern. Algorithms are at the heart of all these devices. In this lecture, I will therefore begin by asking the question: what is an algorithm? I will follow this up by asking: what gives an algorithm the particular ability to "recognize patterns"? Indeed, "pattern recognition" is another, perhaps more accurate, name for artificial intelligence. In this regard, I will ask where the assimilation between intelligence (artificial or otherwise) and pattern recognition comes from. This simple question leads us, as we shall see, to revisit the entire history of philosophy.

Pascal Nouvel, Doctor of Science (Biology) and Doctor of Letters (Philosophy), is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Tours, member of the Ethics and Health Education team (EA 7505), and Director of the Center for Ethics and Contemporary Philosophy. He is the author of L’art d’aimer la science (PUF, 2000), Enquête sur le concept de modèle (2003, co-ed.),The Possible and Biotechnology (PUF, 2003, with Claude Debru), History of Amphetamines (PUF, 2009), The Philosophy of Science (PUF, 2011), and Axiomatics of Feelings (Hermann, 2015).