Cognitive Systems Seminar Series: Beyond Science Fiction – A Vision for the Future of Machine Intelligence

Abstract: We live in an era of self-protective cars that can stop themselves to prevent a collision, pull themselves back into the lane if a drift occurs and the driver does not respond, and accelerate to keep up with traffic and maintain a fixed distance from the car ahead. Self-driving cars are not far in the future, while autonomous robots already explore the surface of Mars. Siri answers our questions and even seems to have a sense of humor. The field of AI has finally delivered after decades of hype. What lies ahead for this fascinating discipline?  How might future intelligent systems enrich our lives and increase our capabilities? Dr. Lucy Nowell will explore research challenges to expand the role of machine intelligence in our daily lives.

Bio: Dr. Lucy Nowell is a computer scientist and program manager in the Office of Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR) within the Department of Energy's Office of Science. She manages a broad spectrum of ASCR-funded computer science research, with a particular emphasis on scientific data management and analysis. Dr. Nowell moved to ASCR in the spring of 2009 from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), where she was a Chief Scientist in the Information Analytics group. Before coming to ASCR, Dr. Nowell was on temporary duty, serving for two years as a Program Director in the area of Data, Data Analysis and Visualization with the Office of Cyberinfrastructure at National Science Foundation (NSF). She also served for four years as a research Program Manager for the Department of Defense, managing a variety of projects related to information analysis and visualization. Dr. Nowell joined PNNL in August 1998 after a career as a professor at Lynchburg College in Virginia, where she taught a wide variety of courses in Computer Science and Theatre. She also headed the Theatre program and later chaired the Computer Science Department. While pursuing her Master of Science and doctorate in computer science at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia, she worked as a Research Scientist in the Digital Libraries Research Laboratory and also interned with the Information Access team at IBM's T. J. Watson Research Laboratories in Hawthorne, NY. Her B.A. and M.A. in Theatre are from the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, and her Master of Fine Arts degree is from the University of New Orleans. She is also a graduate of an accredited life-coach training program.