6.406 Confs: IEE Colloquium program

The Linguist List linguist at tam2000.tamu.edu
Tue Mar 21 00:26:24 UTC 1995


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LINGUIST List:  Vol-6-406. Mon 20 Mar 1995. ISSN: 1068-4875. Lines: 229
 
Subject: 6.406 Confs: IEE Colloquium program
 
Moderators: Anthony Rodrigues Aristar: Texas A&M U. <aristar at tam2000.tamu.edu>
            Helen Dry: Eastern Michigan U. <hdry at emunix.emich.edu>
 
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               Ann Dizdar <dizdar at tam2000.tamu.edu>
               Ljuba Veselinova <lveselin at emunix.emich.edu>
               Annemarie Valdez <avaldez at emunix.emich.edu>
 
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1)
Date: Wed, 15 Mar 95 17:44:53 GMT
From: Paul Mc Kevitt (P.McKevitt at dcs.shef.ac.uk)
Subject: IEE COLLOQ. LONDON (MAY): GROUNDING-REPRESENTATIONS (Sharkey/ Mc
 
-------------------------Messages--------------------------------------
1)
Date: Wed, 15 Mar 95 17:44:53 GMT
From: Paul Mc Kevitt (P.McKevitt at dcs.shef.ac.uk)
Subject: IEE COLLOQ. LONDON (MAY): GROUNDING-REPRESENTATIONS (Sharkey/ Mc
 
 =============================================================================
 GROUNDING REPRESENTATIONS GROUNDING REPRESENTATIONS GROUNDING REPRESENTATIONS
 =============================================================================
 
                      PROGRAMME AND CALL FOR PARTICIPATION
                          GROUNDING REPRESENTATIONS:
                    Integration of sensory information in
                          Natural Language Processing,
                 Artificial Intelligence and Neural Networks
 
                                 IEE COLLOQUIUM
                       IEE Computing and Control Division
             [Professional group: C4 (Artificial Intelligence)]
                              in association with:
          British Computer Society Specialist Group on Expert Systems
                                      and
             The Society for the Study of Artificial Intelligence
                      and Simulation of Behaviour (SSAISB)
 
                           MONDAY, MAY 15th, 1995
                           **********************
                           at the IEE Colloquium
                          Savoy Place  London, ENGLAND
 
                                   Chairs
                      NOEL SHARKEY and PAUL MC KEVITT
                       Department of Computer Science
                      University of Sheffield, England
 
WORKSHOP DESCRIPTION:
Perhaps  the    most  famous  criticism   of   traditional  Artificial
Intelligence  is  that   computer programs    use   symbols that   are
arbitrarily interpretable  (see Searle, 1980 for  the Chinese Room and
Harnad, 1990 for the symbol grounding problem). We could, for example,
use   the word "apple"  to  mean anything  from a  "common fruit" to a
"pig's nose". All the computer  knows is the relationship between this
symbol the others that  we have given it.  The  question is, how is it
possible to  move  from this notion  of  meaning, as the  relationship
between  arbitrary symbols, to   a notion of  "intrinsic" meaning.  In
other words,  how do we provide  meaning by grounding computer symbols
or representations in the physical world?
 
The  aim of this colloquium  is to  take a broad   look at many of the
important issues in relating machine intelligence  to the world and to
make accessible  some of  the   most recent  research  in  integrating
information   from  different modalities.    For   example, why is  it
important to have symbol or  representation grounding and what is  the
role of the emerging neural network technology?
 
One approach  has  been to   link  intelligence to  the sensory  world
through visual systems or robotic devices. Another approach is work on
systems that integrate information  from different modalities such  as
vision and language. Yet another approach has  been to examine how the
human brain  relates sensory, motor and  other  information.  It looks
like we may  be at long last  getting a handle  on the age old CHINESE
ROOM and SYMBOL GROUNDING problems.   Hence this colloquium has as its
focus, "grounding representations.
 
The colloquium will occur over one day and will focus on three themes:
(1) Biology and  development; (2) Computational  models and (3) Symbol
grounding.
 
The  target audience  of this colloquium  will   include Engineers and
Scientists  in    Neural  Networks  and     Artificial   Intelligence,
Developmental Psychologists,   Cognitive  Scientists, Philosophers  of
mind, Biologists and  all  of those  interested in the  application of
Artificial Intelligence to real world problems.
 
PROGRAMME:
 
                             Monday, May 15th, 1995
                            ************************
INTRODUCTION:
 9.00   REGISTRATION + SUSTENANCE
10.00  `An introduction'
         NOEL SHARKEY
         (Department of Computer Science, University of Sheffield, ENGLAND)
BIOLOGY:
10.30  `The neuronal mechanisms of language'
         VALENTINO BRAITENBERG
         (Max Plank Institute for Biological Cybernetics, Tuebingen, GERMANY)
COMPUTATIONAL MODELS:
11.00  `Natural language and exploration of an information space'
         OLIVIERO STOCK
         (Istituto per la Ricerca Scientifica e Technologica, IRST)
         (Trento, ITALY)
11.30  `How visual salience influences natural language descriptions'
         WOLFGANG MAASS
         (Cognitive Science Programme)
         (Universitaet des Saarlandes, Saarbruecken, GERMANY)
12.00   DISCUSSION
12.30   LUNCH
GROUNDING SYMBOLS:
 2.00  `On grounding language with neural networks'
         GEORG DORFFNER
         (Austrian Institute for Artificial Intelligence, Vienna, AUSTRIA)
 2.30  `Some observations on symbol-grounding from a combined
         symbolic/connectionist viewpoint'
          JOHN BARNDEN
          (Computing Research Laboratory, New Mexico, USA) &
          (Department of Computer Science, University of Reading, ENGLAND)
 3.00  Sustenance Break
 3.30  `Grounding symbols in sensorimotor categories with neural networks'
         STEVAN HARNAD
         (Department of Psychology, University of Southampton, ENGLAND)
PANEL DISCUSSION AND QUESTIONS:
 4.00  `Grounding representations'
          Chairs + Invited speakers
S/IN S/IN:
 4.30  `De brief/comments'
         PAUL MC KEVITT
         (Department of Computer Science, University of Sheffield, ENGLAND)
 5.00  O/ICHE MHA/ITH
                           *****************************
PUBLICATION:
We intend to publish a book on this Colloquium Proceedings.
 
                                    ADDRESSES
IEE CONTACT:
Sarah Leong
Groups Officer
The Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE)
Savoy Place
GB- WC2R OBL, London
England, UK, EU.
 
E-mail:    SLeong at iee.org.uk    (Sarah Leong)
E-mail:    mbarrett at iee.org.uk  (Martin Barrett)
E-mail:    dpenrose at iee.org.uk  (David Penrose)
WWW:       http://www.iee.org.uk
Ftp:       ftp.iee.org.uk
FaX:       +44 (0) 171-497-3633
Phone:     +44 (0) 171-240-1871  (general)
Phone:     +44 (0) 171-344-8423  (direct)
 
LOCATION:
The Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE)
Savoy Place
GB- WC2R OBL, London
England, UK, EU.
 
ACADEMIC CONTACT:
Paul Mc Kevitt
Department of Computer Science
Regent Court
211 Portobello Street
University of Sheffield
GB- S1 4DP, Sheffield
England, UK, EU.
 
E-mail:    p.mckevitt at dcs.shef.ac.uk
WWW:       http://www.dcs.shef.ac.uk/
WWW:       http://www.shef.ac.uk/
Ftp:       ftp.dcs.shef.ac.uk
FaX:       +44 (0) 114-278-0972
Phone:     +44 (0) 114-282-5572 (Office)
                       282-5596 (Lab.)
                       282-5590 (Secretary)
 
REGISTRATION:
Registration forms are available from SARAH LEONG at the above address
and should be  sent to the following  address: (It is NOT possible  to
register by E-mail.)
 
Colloquium Bookings
Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE)
PO Box 96
Stevenage
GB- SG1 2SD Herts
England, UK, EU.
 
Fax:                    +44 (0) 143 874 2792
Receipt Enquiries:      +44 (0) 143 876 7243
Registration enquiries: +44 (0) 171 240 1871 x.2206
 
PRE-REGISTRATION IS ADVISED ALTHOUGH YOU CAN REGISTER ON THE DAY OF THE
EVENT.
________________________________________________________________________
                    R E G I S T R A T I O N  COSTS
________________________________________________________________________
 
(ALL FIGURES INCLUDE VAT)
IEE MEMBERS                        44.00
NON-IEE MEMBERS                    74.00
IEE MEMBERS
(Retired, Unemployed, Students)     FREE
NON-IEE MEMBERS
(Retired, Unemployed, Students)    22.00
 
LUNCH TICKET                        4.70
 
MEMBERS:
Members of the IEEIE, The British Computer Society and the Society for
the Study of  Artificial Intelligence and  Simulation of Behaviour and
Eurel Member Associations will be admitted at Members' rates.
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