{"674943":{"#nid":"674943","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Professor Briefs Congress on How Randomness Impacts Elections, National Priorities","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/math.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ESchool of Mathematics\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cem\u003E Adjunct Professor \u003C\/em\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/randall.math.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EDana Randall\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cem\u003E, a leading authority in the field of mathematics, recently delivered a Congressional briefing on the crucial connections between mathematics and national priorities.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe American Mathematical Society (AMS) and the Simons Laufer Mathematical Sciences Institute (SLMath) joined forces to co-sponsor the briefing on Capitol Hill, underscoring the significance of the topic and the collective commitment to its exploration.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ERandall\u2019s talk focused on the concepts of collective intelligence and randomness.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECollective intelligence involves harnessing the local behaviors of individuals to achieve a larger, coordinated global outcome. This principle finds practical application in various fields, such as the development of nano-robots that self-assemble for medical applications and the coordination of drones for collective tasks.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAnother focal point of the briefing was the concept of randomness and how it can be used as a tool. Randall said many people falsely view randomness as \u201cmessy and unreliable.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe one thing I wanted people to understand is that it is often the opposite \u2013 it can make things far more reliable. Randomized algorithms are essential across these areas, and the concept of randomness needs to be understood better,\u201d she said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ERandomness can be especially useful in statistical research, such as polling or analyzing maps used for political redistricting.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ERandomness can also be an important tool for collective intelligence. Particles in a collective act locally and randomly in physics, but this enables them to be predictable and robust on a global scale. Randall believes similar concepts are at play when ants collectively build rafts and bridges for survival.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ERandall, who is also a professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/scs.gatech.edu\u0022\u003ESchool of Computer Science\u003C\/a\u003E, said she chose to speak on these topics because they concern several national priorities from a theoretical perspective. She also wanted to emphasize the importance of math in these concepts.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ERandall is using similar principles to engineer collectives to accomplish tasks that are beyond the capabilities of individuals. For the past five years, she has led a \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/news.gatech.edu\/news\/2019\/04\/09\/researchers-awarded-625-million-study-collective-emergent-behavior\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMultidisciplinary University Research Initiative (MURI) project\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E focusing on collective intelligence and understanding how people can achieve positive global outcomes using noisy, locally interacting components.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ESchool of Mathematics Adjunct Professor Dana Randall, a leading authority in the field of mathematics, recently delivered a Congressional briefing on the crucial connections between mathematics and national priorities.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"School of Mathematics Adjunct Professor Dana Randall, a leading authority in the field of mathematics, recently delivered a Congressional briefing on the crucial connections between mathematics and national priorities."}],"uid":"36583","created_gmt":"2024-05-30 17:02:36","changed_gmt":"2024-05-31 12:57:56","author":"lvidal7","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2024-05-30T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2024-05-30T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"674095":{"id":"674095","type":"image","title":"Dana Randall","body":null,"created":"1717088663","gmt_created":"2024-05-30 17:04:23","changed":"1717088663","gmt_changed":"2024-05-30 17:04:23","alt":"Dana Randall","file":{"fid":"257567","name":"randall-briefing2[30]-2.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/05\/30\/randall-briefing2%5B30%5D-2.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/05\/30\/randall-briefing2%5B30%5D-2.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":50684,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2024\/05\/30\/randall-briefing2%5B30%5D-2.jpg?itok=_mYkjRQJ"}}},"media_ids":["674095"],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1279","name":"School of Mathematics"}],"categories":[{"id":"155","name":"Congressional Testimony"},{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"}],"keywords":[{"id":"4896","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"168854","name":"School of Mathematics"},{"id":"176965","name":"congressional briefing"},{"id":"4584","name":"randomness"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EBy \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.cc.gatech.edu\/author\/morgan-usry\u0022\u003EMorgan Usry\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr\u003ESchool of Computer Science\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}