Date: Wednesday, January 15, 2014 at 3:30 pm
Location: DC 1302
Shai
Ben-David
University
of
Waterloo
Cheriton
School
of
Computer
Science
Lecture
title:
"Understanding
machine
learning
-
a
theory
perspective"
Lecture
abstract:
We
are
all
aware
that
we
live
in
the
era
of
data.
In
contrast
to
classical
scientists
that
devoted
much
of
their
resources
to
collecting
data,
nowadays
researchers
are
flooded
with
data
and
the
focus
has
switched
to
trying
to
make
sense
of
and
utilize
the
big
and
complex
available
data.
Machine
learning
is
aimed to
use
computer
power
to
do
just
that.
It
is,
therefore,
no
wonder
that machine
learning
is
currently
a
hot
topic.
Evidence
is
all
over
the
map,
from
NYTimes
articles
to
being
a
top
priority
for
research
investments
by
Google,
Amazon,
Microsoft
and
Facebook.
Throughout
its
(short)
history,
machine
learning
has
enjoyed
fruitful
interactions
between
theory
and
practice.
The
growing
awareness
to
its
power
brings
new
candidate
applications
to
the
field,
which
in
turn
spur
the
development
of
tools
and
inspire
new
frontiers
for
our
theoretical
pursuit.
In this talk I will explain the basic principles behind machine learning and how these principles relate to some of headline-making practical tools. I will also describe some of the major research challenges and research directions that address the fast expanding scope of potential machine learning applications.