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Gioele Zardini (Feb 07 2022 at 07:48):Dear All,
You are kindly invited to this week's Autonomy Talk.
You can find detailed information on our website (https://idsc.ethz.ch/research-frazzoli/autonomy-talks.html), where you can also find recordings of the talks, in case you miss them.
Speaker: Prof. Jules Hedges, Computer & Information Sciences Department, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow
When? 08.02.2022, 16:00 CET
Where? https://ethz.zoom.us/j/99992806716
Title: Lenses as a recurring pattern in optimisation and learning
Abstract: Lenses are a category-theoretic construction which appears as a recurring pattern in many application areas related to optimisation: in neural networks, dynamic programming, Bayesian inference and game theory. One perspective is that lenses are "things that compose by a chain rule" - structurally the same as the usual chain rule, although not necessarily involving actual differentiation. This is the foundation of the "categorical cybernetics" project, which aims to attack problems in optimisation using tools from category theory. I will introduce lenses assuming no background knowledge of category theory, and sketch some of their applications.
Bio: Jules is a lecturer in the Computer & Information Sciences department at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow. He was previously at the Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences, Leipzig, and the Computer Science department at Oxford. His background is mixed between mathematics and theoretical computer science, and he is mostly interested in applications of category theory in microeconomics.
Jules Hedges (Feb 08 2022 at 14:57):Reminder: this is in a few minutes
Gioele Zardini (Feb 08 2022 at 19:27):Recording here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-v-zG4byrk
Jules Hedges (Feb 08 2022 at 20:30):Where the heck did you find that picture of me, I haven't used that for years
Gioele Zardini (Feb 09 2022 at 07:13):LOL, just googled the name. And there was a good assonance with "Lenses" :grinning:
Jules Hedges (Feb 09 2022 at 10:15):The internet never forgets