AI Pioneer Peter Norvig: Frontiers of Science

Frontiers of Science: Peter Norvig


Nov 13, 2024
Above: Peter Norvig. Credit: Todd Anderson

Using current AI large language models to teach the next generation of students

Peter Norvig. Credit: Todd Anderson

“I'm an AI hipster," said Peter Norvig who is known for wearing wildly patterned shirts borne of the Woodstock era. “I was doing it before it was cool, and now is our time.”

The featured speaker at the College of Science’s November 12 Frontiers of Science lecture series, Norvig was referring to the 2024 Nobel Prize in physics awarded to John Hopfield and Geoffrey Hinton for their pioneering work on neural networks, a core part of modern AI systems. Norvig’s address targeted how educators might use current AI large language models (LLMs) to teach the next generation of students.

To explore that question, Norvig, Distinguished Education Fellow at Stanford’s Human-Centered AI Institute as well as a researcher at Google, discussed the evolution of AI to an audience of 200. Norvig reflected back to 2011 when he and Sebastian Thrun pivoted from teaching a traditional AI course at Stanford to an online format where 100,000 worldwide enrolled. The free class featured YouTube videos and what’s called reinforcement learning, using machine learning that helped improve student performance by 10%.

In his lecture, Norvig cited Benjamin Bloom's "two sigma problem” in learning models and emphasized the importance of mastery learning “which means you keep learning something until you get it, rather than saying, 'Well, I got a D on the test, and then tomorrow we're going to start something twice as hard.'” Norvig also emphasized the importance of personalized tutoring.

“Really, the teacher’s role is to make a connection with the student,” Norvig said, “as much as it is to impart this information. That was a main thing we learned in teaching this class.”

These massive open online classes (MOOC) led to gathering massive data sets to help him and his colleague do a better job the next time. In “2024,” he said bringing us up-to-date, “we should be able to do more. And my motto now is we want to have an automated tutor for every learner and an automated teaching assistant for every teacher.”

But the objective for him is always the same: “I want the teachers to be more effective, to be able to do more, be able to connect more with the students, because that personal connection is what's important.”

Language, says Norvig, is humankind’s greatest technology, but “somehow we took this shortcut [in developing AI] of just saying, let's just [take] everything that mankind knows that's been written on the internet and dump it in. That's great. It does a lot of good stuff. There are other cases where we really want better quality, really want to differentiate what's the good stuff and what's not, and that's something we have to work on.”

Norvig acknowledges the challenge of obtaining necessary data to develop accurate student models. Unlike, for example, self-driving automobiles, which uses the data obtained through real-world-miles driven and repeating simulations of miles driven. He cited foundational work by the economist John Horton who is running experiments on computers using “agents” that duplicate a complex set of interactions between each other based on real-world experiments. “I think there's some kind of hope that we could do that kind of thing and have models of students that would tell us something,” he says. “We'd still have to verify that against the real world, but I think this would help a lot, because right now … we've [already] shown we can do 10% better” with student success averages.

There is no doubt that challenges will persist with improving and sufficiently complicating AI-generated content to be more helpful and humane when it comes to educating the next generation. In the context of LLMs, the “open world problem” refers to a scenario where the LLM needs to operate in an environment with incomplete or constantly changing information, requiring it to reason and make decisions without having all the necessary details upfront. It’s much like navigating a real-world situation with unknown variables and potential surprises.

The “open world problem” can’t be solved by traditional pre-programming of coders. There is something in between LLM’s “big empty box”—where you can ask anything you want, go in any direction— and top-down control of a MOOC where everyone ends up attempting to learn in the same way and doing the same thing. “We want the teacher to say, I'm going to guide you on this path, and we're going to get to a body of knowledge, but along the way, we're going to follow diversions that the students are interested in, and every student is going to be a little bit different.” Until the past two years, said Norvig, we never had any technology that could do that, and that “now maybe we do.”

Not only do we need to get AI right, Norvig continued, we need to ask, what does that mean? What is education? Who is it for? When do we do it? Where do we do it?

“The main idea is getting across this general … body of knowledge. But then there's also specific knowledge or skills. … Some of it is about reasoning and judgment that's independent of the knowledge. Some of it is about just getting people motivated … Some of it is about civic and social coherence, being together with other people and working together, mixing our society together.”

It’s a tall order for AI engineers, teachers and students.

For Norvig, the long game is underwritten by the importance of understanding long-term educational goals and balancing AI's benefits with human connections. It’s nothing short of redefining what an education means.

In the 80s, he says, it was about algorithms telling us things; in the “oughts” it was about the showing of big data; and now in the 20s it has turned to the philosophical:  What do we need and what do we want in our real and AI world to prepare students for the future and, once they enter the workforce, to distinguish tasks and jobs. (Changing the mix of tasks, he says, will undoubtedly continue.) What technology do we want to invest in and how will it impact employment?

In his presentation, Norvig engagingly careened from big scale to micro-scale almost in the same sentence, but it’s what the sector is being asked to do at this inflection point in AI technology: mixing the technological with the philosophical, asking hard questions, and thinking inside and without that “open box.”

Fortunately, in the good professor/director of “human-centered AI,” we have a guide and a cheerleader. Not only are his wildly printed shirts easy on the eye, but, the audience was told in the evening’s introduction that he founded the ultimate frisbee club at Berkeley when he was a graduate student.

For Peter Norvig, the self-described “AI hipster,” he’s clearly known for a long while what was cool, “before it was cool.”

 

 

Frontiers of Science is the longest continuously running lecture series at the University of Utah, established in 1967 by U alumnus and physics professor Peter Gibbs. 

by David Pace

 

Discover Science

October 26, 2024, 12:00 PM
Henry Eyring Building, Room 2008

Are you a prospective student that is curious about science programs at the U? Learn more by attending Discover Science, immediately following Discover the U on the University of Utah campus.

We will have pizza, chemistry demos, presentations from current students and scholarship giveaways up to $3,000!

Please register for the event below:

Discover Science
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For more information about this event, contact Sam Shaw in Student Affairs at sam.shaw@utah.edu.

 

Faraday Lectures

The Faraday Lectures


Creating Holiday Reactions since 1981

 

Join us to celebrate the power of science with the Utah’s most explosive holiday tradition!

For 37 years, the U Chemistry department’s Faraday Lectures have brought the community together. Join chemistry professors Janis Louie and Tom Richmond as they perform an extraordinary series of chemical experiments that educate and entertain audiences of all ages.

The lectures are named after Michael Faraday, the discoverer of electromagnetic induction, electro-magnetic rotations, the magneto-optical effect, diamagnetism and field theory. Faraday served as director of the Royal Institute in London from 1825-1867 and enhanced its reputation as a center for scientific research and education. A gifted lecturer, he began presenting his Christmas Lectures for Children at the Royal Institute in the mid-1820s. With Faraday as their guide, audiences entered wholeheartedly into the world of science. In this tradition, the Department of Chemistry has given the annual Faraday Lectures since 1981.

Learn more about the Faraday Lectures on the Department of Chemistry website.

 

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Convocation Speakers

Convocation speaker

The Convocation speaker will be announced soon!

Student speaker

The College of Science is pleased to have the opportunity for one of our graduates speak at Convocation to represent their experience and deliver an inspiring message to all students in attendance.  All undergraduate students graduating in Fall 2019, Spring 2020, and Summer 2020 are invited to submit a written speech to be considered for the 2020 Convocation Student Speaker.

Here are some guidelines for a successful submission:

  • Your speech should be around 3 – 4 minutes (500-700 words).
  • Have a clear story, theme, or message.
  • Talk about your future and how your experience in the College of Science helped to shape it.
  • Be authentic and positive.
  • You must be comfortable speaking in front of several thousand people during the College of Science Convocation on Thursday, April 30 at 9 am at the Huntsman Arena.

Please submit your speech by 5 p.m. on Wednesday, March 18. Speech submissions should contain your full name, UNID, and major.

Students chosen to audition with the College of Science convocation committee will be contacted to arrange a time during the week of March 23-27. The committee will then choose the winning speaker and notify them by April 1. If you have any questions, please email us.

>> Return to the Convocation page <<

Student FAQ

Student FAQ


Convocation is an opportunity to celebrate your academic accomplishments with your peers, family, friends, and College of Science community. This page contains useful information for graduation day.

Convocation Procedure
  • All candidates for degrees will line up outside the Huntsman Event Center beginning at 7:30 a.m. Although convocation does not begin until 9:00 am, students will begin marching in at 8:10 am.
  • A reader card will be given to you when you arrive at convocation. Printing legibly, fill out ALL sections of the card (front & back) and bring it with you to the reader table. These cards are to provide your information to the faculty announcing the student names.  They also assist the professional photographer in the process of identifying student photos for those who wish to purchase pictures.
  • Graduates will file into Huntsman Arena and be directed by the ushers to your seats.
  • During the awarding of diploma cover, you will be directed to a reader table where you will hand the reader your card. As your name is read, walk to the Dean’s reception line, where your photograph will be taken.
  • You will then return to the seating area to await the processional out of Huntsman.
Regalia
  •  All graduates are required to wear the appropriate cap and gown during Convocation. Ribbons or cords may be attached to the robe to denote membership in an officially recognized academic organization or honor society when membership is by nomination and/or election.
  • Regalia may be ordered through the Campus Store.
Photography
  • Graduation photographs may be ordered through Island Photography. You are not obligated to purchase these photographs.
  • Family and friends may take pictures as long as they do not disrupt the ceremony.

Island Photography preorder

Diplomas
  • Diplomas are mailed to graduates from the Office of the Registrar within three months of graduation.
  • If your address, phone number, and/or email address change, update your information immediately in the Campus Information System (CIS). The Registrar will use the most recent address listed in CIS when mailing your diploma.
reception

All graduates and their guests are invited to a reception at the Crocker Science Center, directly after graduation. It is recommended that cars remain parked, as there is very limited parking by the Crocker Science Center. Guests may take campus shuttles from the Huntsman Center to Crocker, or take TRAX west one stop to the Rice Eccles station. It is a short walk from the TRAX station to the Crocker Science Center. Please email events@science.utah.edu if you need parking accommodations close to the Crocker Science Center.

PhD Candidates

The College of Science allows faculty to hood their Ph.D. candidates during the diploma presentation of the convocation ceremony. In order to assure that this process proceeds smoothly, please read these instructions carefully:

Step 1: After the Ph.D. candidate’s name has been read, s/he proceeds to the dean’s reception line to receive the diploma. The hood should be draped over the left arm. Please be sure that the hood is unbuttoned so that it will fit over the graduation cap.

Step 2: As the candidate approaches the dean, the faculty advisor or department chair (if the advisor is not present) will step forward and stand on the candidate’s left side. The dean will be on the candidate’s right side. The dean will give the diploma cover to the candidate, and the candidate should hand the hood to the dean.

Step 3: The dean and the faculty/chair will each take one side of the hood and lower the hood over the candidate’s head from the rear.

Step 4: The candidate shakes hands with the faculty/chair and the dean, and smiles for the photo.

Guest FAQ

The College of Science looks forward to welcoming the family and friends of our graduates. Family members are advised to arrive at the Huntsman Center by 8:15 am.

Parking

Campus parking lots may be used at no charge during Convocation. Families are encouraged to drop off elderly guests and those who cannot walk long distances in the Jon M. Huntsman Center circle before parking their cars. The closest parking to the Jon M. Huntsman Center is directly south in the LDS Institute lot.

There will be no parking at the Rice Eccles Stadium lot during Convocation and Commencement ceremonies.

For information regarding guest parking, accessible parking, shuttles, and other transportation related information, please visit the Parking Page.

bag check

The Huntsman Center enforces a clear bag policy. Guests may bring in one clear bag no larger than 12 inches by 6 inches by 12 inches or a one (1) gallon storage bag. 

If you do not have a clear bag, any belongings brought into Huntsman Center, including diaper bags, will be searched.

Seating

There is open seating for Convocation guests. Please arrive early to ensure a good seat for the ceremony.

Special seating/accomodations

Guests needing ADA access to the Huntsman Center have 2 options: They may have someone drop them off directly in front of the Huntsman center on the circle (accessed from Westbound South Campus Drive only) and then the driver can park at the stadium lot and take the shuttle or TRAX back OR they may park in the stadium lot and ride a campus shuttle to the Huntsman Center. All the shuttles will be lift equipped.

Photography

Official graduation photographs may be ordered through Island Photography. The graduate will receive information from Island Photography on ordering prints.

Family and friends may take pictures as long as they do not disrupt the ceremony. No one is allowed to take photographs in front of the main stage or the Island Photography staging area.

For additional information, check out the University commencement page here.

>> Return to the Convocation page <<

Convocation 2019

2019 Convocation Speaker

Dr. Monica Gandhi, BS'91

The College of Science is honored to welcome College of Science alumna, Dr. Monica Gandhi, BS’91 as our 2019 Convocation speaker. Dr. Ghandi is Professor of Medicine and Associate Division Chief (Clinical Operations/ Education) of the Division of HIV, Infectious Diseases, and Global Medicine at UCSF/ San Francisco General Hospital. She also serves as the medical director of the HIV Clinic at SFGH. Her work in HIV research and HIV education and mentorship has been recognized with a number of international awards including the HIV Congress, Lifetime HIV Merit Award in 2018.

Before HIV research–Monica was immersed in the University of Utah. Her father, Om, now aged 84, was a Professor of Electrical Engineering at the U for over 50 years, and former department chair. Says Monica, “I essentially grew up on campus.”

The health and social issues of the 1970s/80s helped define Dr. Gandhi’s career. “I was moved to enter HIV care by the struggles I witnessed firsthand” says Monica, “I also became interested in infectious diseases, which differentially affect the poor, after going to India several times and witnessing the stark contrast between rich and poor.”

After receiving her undergraduate degree in 1991, Dr. Gandhi completed her M.D. at Harvard Medical School and then came to the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) in 1996 for residency training in Internal Medicine. After her residency, Dr. Gandhi completed a fellowship in Infectious Diseases and a postdoctoral fellowship at the Center for AIDS Prevention Studies, both at UCSF. She also obtained a Masters in Public Health from Berkeley in 2001 with a focus on Epidemiology and Biostatistics.

Student Convocation Speaker

Hollie Marie Berry Morales, Biology

Originally from Wharton, Texas, Hollie transferred to the U, for undergraduate brain cancer research, population health sciences research, to study genetics, and to finish her Bachelor’s degree.

Following graduation, Hollie will begin her work on a PhD in Oncological Sciences, focusing on embryonal tumors of the Central Nervous System, here at the U this fall.

Convocation Ceremony

The College of Science Convocation ceremony is an opportunity for science graduates to be recognized individually, have their degrees conferred, and receive their diploma covers.

College of Science Convocation
Thursday, May 2, 2019
9:00 am - 10:30 am
Jon M. Huntsman Center - map

 

 

Convocation Photos


 

Convocation video