The Department of Mathematics invites you to attend two inaugural lectures on 29 October 2024:

Inaugural lecture by associate professor Rune Nyrup:

Time: 14:15 – 14:45

Lecture title:
A Good Explanation? Philosophical Foundations for Explainable AI

Abstract:
Complex machine learning models often appear as inscrutable black boxes. To address this problem, the field known as Explainable AI seeks to develop tools for explaining AI systems. Yet to what extent current explainable AI tools actually solve the black box problem remains contested. Some critics worry they could be actively harmful, providing only an illusory sense of understanding. In this talk, I discuss how ideas from philosophy of science can help clarify debates about the promise and perils of explainable AI.

Inaugural lecture by professor Simon Kristensen

Time: 14:50 – 15:20

Lecture title: Structure versus disorder in number theory

Abstract:
Many arithmetical properties of real numbers are suspected to be universal, i.e. to hold for all real numbers. Even more, this is often due to the fact that they hold for almost all numbers, and we see no particular reason why there would be any exceptions. While this is of course simplified beyond what is reasonable, it is nonetheless a useful guideline for making conjectures and approach the resolution of these. From the side of disorder, one considers the 'almost all' quantifier to be a measure of disorder and aims to see how little disorder one can get away with, while still maintaining the desired universal property. Subsequently, one tries to prove that if sufficient structure is present, then the property must also be satisfied, albeit for different reasons. In this inaugural lecture, we will elaborate on these points and illustrate the approach by considering the relation between base p-expansions and an unsolved problem called the p-adic Littlewood conjecture.

Reception

After the last lecture, the Department will host a small reception in Vandrehallen, building 1530.

We look forward to seeing you!