News

When he was 12 years old, Hartmut Haeffner got his first computer— a Commodore 64. On the C64, Haeffner learned to program, first for fun and then as a job, using the computer to track sporting events in his native Germany. He was fascinated with both what the computer could do, and the underlying technology that made it possible.

As a child, Bin Yu never dreamed she’d go to college. She grew up in China during the Cultural Revolution, when nearly all of the country’s institutions of higher learning were closed. But in third grade, a cousin gave Yu a math book. She fell in love with the structured way of thinking and the concrete answers found in the textbook.

Emerging speech neuroprostheses may offer a way to communicate for people who are unable to speak due to paralysis or disease, but fast, high-performance decoding has not yet been demonstrated. Now, transformative new work by researchers at UCSF and UC Berkeley shows that more natural speech decoding is possible using the latest advances in artificial intelligence.

ChatGPT. Alexa and Siri. Self-driving vehicles. It may seem that artificial intelligence (AI) is everywhere – and that’s because it is. 
 

On May 4, 2023 the U.S. National Science Foundation announced it will be making a $140 million investment to establish seven new National Artificial Intelligence Research Institutes; one of institutes will include the involvement of three UC Noyce Initiative funded researchers.

When (UC Noyce Initiative researcher) Ziad Obermeyer was a resident in an emergency medicine program, he found himself lying awake at night worrying about the complex elements of patient diagnoses that physicians could miss. He subsequently found his way to data science and research and has since coauthored numerous papers on algorithmic bias and the use of AI and machine learning in predictive analytics in health care.

Two teams of researchers led by Marina Radulaski, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, recently won University of California grants — including one from the UC Noyce Initiative — that promise to give scientists a better understanding of quantum information sciences—a rapidly-emerging technology that stands to transform the way society interacts with computers and technology.

Online life has become increasingly mediated by Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Nearly 70% of all videos watched on YouTube are recommended by its AI algorithm, and that number is even higher on social media services like Instagram and TikTok. Though these AI algorithms can help users find content that’s interesting to them, they raise serious privacy concerns and there is growing evidence that people are being radicalized by some of the recommended content they consume online.

What is quantum science? What type of innovations can come from researching it, and how can that technology impact our daily lives and the lives of future generations?

For decades, UC Berkeley has invested in research around basic quantum science, building a strong foundation and rich ecosystem of more than a dozen institutes, groups and colleges across campus dedicated to its study.

In this video, produced by UC Berkeley’s fundraising arm, UC Berkeley professors highlight how Berkeley is a leader in quantum science and technology.

Recognizing the importance of cross-disciplinary work, computer science Ph.D. student Markelle Kelly is partnering with cognitive scientists on her research into human-machine collaboration.