STEM Café: Computing Conundrum: The Impacts of Deep Learning, Large Language Models and Quantum Computing

Speakers: Amin Vahedian, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Operations Management and Information Systems, NIU College of Business Doga Murat Kürkçüoglu, Ph.D., Staff Scientist at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory Join us to learn about the current state of computing, as well as the social impacts and ethical challenges presented by developments such as large language models and quantum computing. Amin Vahedian is an assistant professor of Operations Management and Information Systems (OM&IS) in the NIU College of Business. He’ll talk about Deep Learning, which is the underlying technology of Large Language Models (LLM), the latest (and perhaps most impressive) manifestation of Artificial Intelligence in the public sphere. Dr. Vahedian will explore the ethical challenges and shortcomings inherent to Deep Learning and what those shortcomings mean for users of technology. For example, one surprising feature of LLMs is that they are not necessarily trained to be correct in their responses. Doga Murat Kürkçüoglu is a staff scientist at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory whose research includes designing new algorithms for the particle accelerator technology, devising quantum simulations of condensed matter and high-energy physics theories, and developing machine learning algorithms. Dr. Kürkçüoglu will talk about the status of quantum technology today, what quantum computing promises for the future, and what is hype and not hype about quantum computing. He’ll explore the importance of quantum computing not only for science, but also for national security and society more broadly.