Is A.I Laughing at us?

Cambridge Public Library
Monday, February 04, 2019, 6:30-8pm
Lecture Hall, Main Branch, 449 Broadway

Join a spirited and accessible discussion of artificial intelligence and art, how humor and creativity interrelate, and the successes and the shortcomings of new Al technologies, featuring poet and lawyer Jessica Fjeld, Google AI Engineering Director Jon Orwant, and metaLAB research assistant (and incoming Harvard student) Nikhil Dharmaraj. Inspired by Cambridge Public Library’s recent exhibition, The Laughing Room by Jonny Sun and Hannah Davis, in which visitors found themselves on a sitcom set where the laughter was controlled by an Al.

Presented as part of Horizons: Exploring Breakthroughs in Science & Technology and Their Impact on Society, a lecture series of the the STEAM Initiative at Cambridge Public Library Cosponsored by metaLAB (at) Harvard and the ARTificial Intelligence group at MIT.

Jessica Fjeld is a Lecturer on Law at Harvard Law School. and the Assistant Director of the Cyberlaw Clinic at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society. Recently, she has emphasized work with Al-generated art. the overlap of existing rights and ethics frameworks on emerging technologies. and legal issues confronted by digital archives. She holds a JD from Columbia Law School and an MFA in Poetry from the University of Massachusetts.

Jon Orwant is Google’s Engineering Director for AI, Operations Research and Compiler Research. Prior to Google, Dr. Orwant was director of research for France Telecom and CTO of O’Reilly Media. He received his BS, MS, and PhD from MIT.

Nikhil Dharmaraj is fascinated by the intersection of technology and the humanities. As an intern at Harvard’s metaLAB, Nikhil worked with artists Jonny Sun and Hannah Davis on The Laughing Room. A senior at The Harker School in San Jose, California, he will enter Harvard College as a member of the Class of 2023.