Artificial intelligence (AI) has come a long way in recent years, but the technology still has hurdles to overcome if machines are to become true partners and collaborators with humans. To help push the systems to that next level, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is hosting a two-day conference aimed at spurring the next wave of AI advances. The Artificial Intelligence Colloquium being held March 6-7 in Alexandria, Virginia, is designed to bring together AI researchers from across the Defense Department, industry and academia with the broader military community seeking to use AI technologies. Attendees will learn more about DARPA's current and emerging AI programs and how the myriad technologies in development could apply to their diverse missions. "We're going to have 18 briefings in total. The goal of the colloquium is to go a bit deeper into the technology than we typically do. For many events, we try to appeal to a broad audience. For this one, it's more of a technical audience," explains John Everett, deputy director of DARPA's Information Integration Office.

The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (CEIP) and Carnegie Mellon University held the first part of the two-part joint Carnegie Colloquium on Digital Governance and Security in Washington D.C. on Oct. 31. The first part of the colloquium was titled "The Rise of Artificial Intelligence: Implications for Military Operations and Privacy," and the second part, titled "The Future of the Internet: Governance and Conflict," will be held this year in Pittsburgh on Dec. 2. CEIP is a series of foreign policy-based research centers located in Russia, China, Europe, the Middle East, India, and the United States, with headquarters in Washington D.C., that collects itself under the phrase, "The Global Think Tank." It was established in 1960 by Andrew Carnegie and, according to a report by the University of Pennsylvania, is the third most influential think tank in the world. The colloquium, held for the benefit of both Carnegie Mellon and the CEIP, aimed to allow for communication between the academics at Carnegie Mellon and the foreign policy and ethics experts from all the CEIP stations across the world to discuss the implication of artificial intelligence on foreign policy and the challenges posed by it. The second part of the colloquium will focus on cyber-security norms and internet governance. "Designing safe software systems and attempting to create the learning abilities of the human brain are natural progressions towards the two of the modern world's most pressing concerns -- cyber security and privacy," said President Subra Suresh, in the welcome address.

"Can the brain do back-propagation?" Speaker Abstract and Bio can be found here: http://ee380.stanford.edu/Abstracts/1... Colloquium on Computer Systems Seminar Series (EE380) presents the current research in design, implementation, analysis, and use of computer systems. Topics range from integrated circuits to operating systems and programming languages. It is free and open to the public, with new lectures each week.