Category: Conferences

[Twitter] Nassim Taleb announces female scholarships open for virtual #RWRI 19 (Real World Risk Workshop) 2024

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“Friends, we have female scholarships (up to 99.999999999%) open for this summer’s virtual #RWRI 19…” Taleb tweeted.

Nassim Taleb announces #RWRI (Real World Risk Workshop) 2024

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Workshop organized by the Real World Risk Institute. The workshop is an intense 10-day online program, and the 19th edition will take place from Jun 25- Jul 5, 2024.

Stephen Wolfram visits RWRI 18 (Summer Workshop) [PRIVATE]

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Workshop organized by the Real World Risk Institute. The workshop is an intense 10-day online program, and the 18th edition took place from July 10-21, 2023.

This video discusses the capabilities and limitations of large language models like GPT, the challenges of setting constraints on AI systems, and the potential risks and consequences of AI decision-making. The video talks about:

  1. The concept of a “stochastic parrot” in language processing and machine learning.
  2. How language processing systems like GPT use data from the web to generate responses.
  3. Attempts to “trick” GPT with questions requiring nuanced understanding.
  4. The simple operation of GPT in predicting the next word in a sequence.
  5. The use of language models as a new interface to computers.
  6. The integration of GPT with Wolfram Alpha for computations and informed responses.
  7. The similarity between writing good prompts for GPT and expository writing.
  8. The training data for GPT, includes nonsense, fiction, and factual information.
  9. The problem of the “self-licking lollipop” in information sources.
  10. The concept of “necessarily human work” requires human choice and input.
  11. The potential for AI to make decisions and the challenges of setting constraints.
  12. A thought experiment called “promptocracy” for AI decision-making.
  13. The actuation layer of AI and the difficulty of setting constraints.
  14. The phenomenon of computational irreducibility and trade-offs in AI computation.
  15. The potential risks of AI decision-making and the need for understanding large language models.

Nassim Taleb to speak at CoinGeek Conference 2021 in Zurich

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LONDON, May 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — CoinGeek Conference is created to foster enterprise blockchain adoption and support technology to enable a new data ecosystem. Doing something that has never been done before requires opening doors to experts with many differing viewpoints, past conferences brought in the likes of Wikipedia Founder Jimmy Wales who had previously expressed the opinion that he would never allow Bitcoin to be used on his platform.

With the goal of hearing diverse opinions that spawn meaningful discussions, CoinGeek Zurich (June 8-10) can now confirm that both Nouriel Roubini and Nassim Nicholas Taleb will address those assembled on and offline with their thoughts, on where the value should come from in Blockchain and Digital Currencies.

Register for this virtual event for free at this link – https://coingeekconference.6connex.eu/event/Zurich2021/register

Nassim Taleb speaking at Knowledge and Reality (an Online Synchronous Course)

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Knowledge and Reality | Online Synchronous Course | 30 Spots | 8 pm Beirut time

Knowledge and Reality: Perception, Skepticism, Time, Mind
Nassim Nicholas Taleb will be joining for a 5th q&a session.

https://twitter.com/Decafquest/status/1396852198496260096

Website: 

decafquest.com

Instructors:

The course will be co-taught by:

  • Mahmoud Rasmi (@decafquest): finished his PhD in Philosophy at the University of Salamanca Spain. Between 2013 and 2020, he taught philosophy and cultural studies at the American University of Beirut and the Lebanese American University. Now, he has decided to venture into the virtual world in order to give affordable classes online to people who are interested in studying philosophy in a non-academic setting. 

Here’s a sample class on Stoicism from an Introduction to Philosophy online course:

  • Philippe Caponis (@philippecaponis): Philippe holds an MS in Physics and an MA in Philosophy from the University of Paris. He taught philosophy at the American University of Beirut and Lebanese American University. He is interested in better understanding how scientific theories illuminate (and often reshape) philosophical debates about the nature of space and time, identity and material constitution.

Here’s a talk by Philippe titled: Three Philosophical Lessons from Modern Physics:

Dates and Schedule:

  • 4 weeks, once a week, 2 hrs per session.
  • The course will start on Tuesday, June 8, 2021, and will end on Tuesday, June 29, 2021.
  • Course Schedule: Tuesdays at 8:00 pm Beirut time (7:00 pm CET time).
  • Synchronous online course via Zoom.
  • Asynchronous: if you can’t attend, you will have the option to watch the recorded lectures. 
  • Price: USD120$
  • Capacity: 30 seats (raised to 35)

Important information:

You will receive the link to the sessions a few days before the course starts. 

Those based in Lebanon can make the payment via Bank transfer (please contact me to provide you with the details).

Since we are not an institution, you will not be able to claim credits for the course. Many of you might also already be busy with your jobs and daily routine; as a result, we won’t be assigning any homework, exams, or papers. However, if any of you wishes to be assessed on the course material covered, we can arrange for the proper method and format in private.

The sessions will be recorded and uploaded to the DecafQuest YouTube channel as hidden. The links will be made available on google classroom to those registered.

Please find below a tentative syllabus: 

This series will serve as an introduction to the traditional philosophical problems about the structure of reality and our attempts at understanding it. It surveys a variety of topics in metaphysics and epistemology through selected essays largely free of technical terminology. The concepts covered in this first course are perception, skepticism, time and mind.

Discussions will mainly revolve around the following questions: does sense perception enable us to gain knowledge about the world? can we be certain about the existence of the external world or the existence of things outside of us must be accepted merely on faith? What do we mean when we say that time passes? Are past and future events real? What is the nature of the mind? Is it non-physical or a mere product of brain processes?

L1: Perception

  • Locke
  • Berkeley
  • Kant

L2: Skepticism

  • Descartes & Hume
  • Moore & Wittgenstein

L3: Time

  • McTaggart
  • Putnam

L4: Mind

  • Descartes & Malebranche 
  • Smart
  • Nagel

L5: TBA Q&A with Nassim Nicholas Taleb and Trishank Karthik Kuppusamy

Link to registration – https://gumroad.com/l/knowledge-reality

Nassim Taleb speaking at Business Insider Global Trends Festival 2020

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Nassim Taleb portrait photo

From the website:

Nassim Nicholas Taleb is an American economist, philosopher and trader of Lebanese origin. In his academic work, he focuses on issues connected with probability, randomness and uncertainty. He is a professor at the University of New York and author of bestsellers: “The Black Swan. The Impact of Highly Improbable”, and “Antifragile. Things That Gain From Disorder”. The Sunday Times has chosen “The Black Swan” as one of the 12 most important books published after World War II.

Date: 19th – 23rd October 2020
9 hours of live streaming every day
Streaming link and access code will be given within 24-48 hours before the showtime.

For tickets go to in.bookmyshow.com