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Generative AI / AI, Robotics & Automation / Emerging Technology / Neuroscience / Founders & Practitioners / Must-Read Books / New To Stern

Videos

  • Gary Marcus: The urgent risks of runaway AI -- and what to do about them
    Gary Marcus: The urgent risks of runaway AI -- and what to do about them
  • Why artificial intelligence developers say regulation is needed to keep AI in check
    Why artificial intelligence developers say regulation is needed to keep AI in check
  • ChatGPT: Artificial Intelligence, chatbots and a world of unknowns | 60 Minutes
    ChatGPT: Artificial Intelligence, chatbots and a world of unknowns | 60 Minutes
  • A.I. Expert Answers A.I. Questions From Twitter | Tech Support | WIRED
    A.I. Expert Answers A.I. Questions From Twitter | Tech Support | WIRED
  • Artificial Intelligence, Anti-Discrimination & Bias
    Artificial Intelligence, Anti-Discrimination & Bias
  • Unveiling AI's Illusions: with Gary Marcus and Michael Wooldridge
    Unveiling AI's Illusions: with Gary Marcus and Michael Wooldridge
  • Here's why A.I. needs a six-month pause: NYU Professor Gary Marcus
    Here's why A.I. needs a six-month pause: NYU Professor Gary Marcus
  • Why top AI leaders are calling for a pause
    Why top AI leaders are calling for a pause
  • AI expert reveals his 'single greatest fear' about the technology
    AI expert reveals his 'single greatest fear' about the technology
  • A Skeptical Take on the A.I. Revolution
    A Skeptical Take on the A.I. Revolution
  • Debunking the great AI lie | Noam Chomsky, Gary Marcus, Jeremy Kahn
    Debunking the great AI lie | Noam Chomsky, Gary Marcus, Jeremy Kahn
  • AGI Debate
    AGI Debate
  • He loves artificial intelligence. Hear why he is issuing a warning about ChatGPT
    He loves artificial intelligence. Hear why he is issuing a warning about ChatGPT
  • Does ChatGPT Change ... Everything? | The Agenda
    Does ChatGPT Change ... Everything? | The Agenda
  • What AI is and isn't. What AI can do, and what it cannot.
    What AI is and isn't. What AI can do, and what it cannot.
  • Is AI Dangerously Overhyped? — With Gary Marcus
    Is AI Dangerously Overhyped? — With Gary Marcus
  • The biggest problem in AI? Machines have no common sense. | Gary Marcus | Big Think
    The biggest problem in AI? Machines have no common sense. | Gary Marcus | Big Think
  • AI DEBATE : Yoshua Bengio | Gary Marcus
    AI DEBATE : Yoshua Bengio | Gary Marcus
  • A(G)I: Where we have been, and where we need to go - Gary Marcus - Scottish AI Summit 2023
    A(G)I: Where we have been, and where we need to go - Gary Marcus - Scottish AI Summit 2023

Learn More About Gary Marcus

Gary Marcus is a leading voice in cognitive science and artificial intelligence. The co-founder of the Center for the Advancement of Trustworthy AI, he is well-known for his challenges to contemporary AI (artificial intelligence), anticipating many of the current limitations decades in advance, and has been a leading advocate of neurosymbolic AI for three decades. In outstanding testimony before the U.S. Senate, an energizing TED Talk, an exceptional New York Times Q&A, and on CBS’ 60 Minutes, Marcus has emerged as a prominent voice urging for international AI research and regulation.

Trained by Steven Pinker, he received his PhD from MIT at age of 23 and was a professor at NYU for 20 years before becoming Founder and CEO of Geometric Intelligence, a machine learning company, which was acquired by Uber in 2016. 

As Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Neural Science at NYU, he is also known for his research in human language development and cognitive neuroscience. He is the author of five books, including the bestseller “Guitar Zero” (2012). His 2001 book The Algebraic Mind” foreshadowed the hallucination problem that plague current AI systems. “Rebooting AI,”(2019), with Ernest Davis, calls for fundamental changes in how we approach artificial intelligence and was one of Forbes’s 7 Must Read Books in AI

His 2022 article “Deep Learning is Hitting a Wall” initially enraged many AI researchers but was ultimately named one of Pocket’s Best Tech Articles of 2022. Its key conclusions –that current AI systems face serious limits in truth, comprehension and reliability—have now been widely accepted even by many of his most prominent critics.

Marcus is currently challenging the field in a series of articles at garymarcus.substack.com, which has quickly become a leading blog on AI, and has just launched an 8-episode podcast, “Humans versus Machines.” 

He has written for The New York Times, Wired, The Guardian, Time, and The New Yorker and many others, and is regularly quoted (New Yorker, New York Times Washington Post, etc.). In recent months, his realist’s perspective has been featured on The Ezra Klein Show, CNN, NPR, Sam Harris’s podcast and many more. As seen in a recent 60 Minutes appearance, Marcus has emerged as a prominent skeptic not of AI itself, but of the potential path that companies using AI may find themselves on if they do not adequately prepare themselves.

Gary Marcus is available to advise your organization via virtual and in-person consulting meetings, interactive workshops and customized keynotes through the exclusive representation of Stern Speakers & Advisors, a division of Stern Strategy Group®.

Gary Marcus was last modified: September 12th, 2023 by Meg Virag

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Praise for "Rebooting AI"

“Finally, a book that tells us what AI is, what AI is not, and what AI could become if only we are ambitious and creative enough. No matter how smart and useful our intelligent machines are today, they don’t know what really matters. 'Rebooting AI' dares to imagine machine minds that goes far beyond the closed systems of games and movie recommendations to become real partners in every aspect of our lives.”

Garry Kasparov, Former World Chess Champion and Author, “Deep Thinking: Where Machine Intelligence Ends and Human Creativity Begins”

“Artificial intelligence is here to stay. What are its achievements, its prospects, its pitfalls and misdirected initiatives—and how might these be remedied and overcome? This lucid and deeply informed account, from a critical but sympathetic perspective, is a valuable guide to developments that will surely have a major impact on the social order and intellectual culture.”

Noam Chomsky, Linguist, Philosopher, and Public Intellectual

“Artificial intelligence is among the most consequential issues facing humanity, yet much of today’s commentary has been less than intelligent: awe-struck, credulous, apocalyptic, uncomprehending. Gary Marcus and Ernest Davis, experts in human and machine intelligence, lucidly explain what today’s AI can and cannot do, and point the way to systems that are less A and more I.”

Steven Pinker, Johnstone Professor of Psychology, Harvard University; Author, "How the Mind Works" and "The Stuff of Thought"

“Finally, a book that says aloud what so many AI experts are really thinking. Every CEO should read it, and everyone else at the company, too. Then they’ll be able to separate the AI wheat from the chaff, and know where we are, how far we have to go, and how to get there.”

Pedro Domingos, Professor of Computer Science at the University of Washington; Author of "The Master Algorithm"

“A welcome antidote to the hype that has engulfed AI over the past decade and a realistic look at how far AI and robotics still have to go.”

Rodney Brooks, Former Director of the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory

“AI is achieving superhuman performance in many narrow applications, but the reality is that we are still very far from artificial general intelligence that truly understands the world. Marcus and Davis explain the pitfalls of current approaches with humor and insight, and provide a compelling path toward the kind of robust AI that can earn our trust.”

Erik Brynjolfsson, Stanford Professor, Bestselling Co-Author, "The Second Machine Age" and "Machine | Platform | Crowd"

“'Rebooting AI' is a blast to read. It's erudite, it's witty, and it neatly unpacks why today's AI has such trouble doing truly smart tasks—and what it'll take to reach that goal.”

Clive Thompson, "Wired" Magazine Columnist, Author, "Coders: The Making of a New Tribe and the Remaking of the World"

“When I was a child I saw 2001: A Space Odyssey and then read everything I could about AI. All the smart people said it was twenty years away. Twenty years later I was an adult and the smart people said that AI was twenty years away. Twenty years after that we passed 2001 and the smart people said it was about twenty years away. Yup, it’s getting better and better, but it still ain’t HAL. It can tag photos pretty good but on understanding stories my son passed all the AI before he went to his stupid preschool. Now is the time to listen to smarter people: in 'Rebooting AI,' Gary Marcus and Ernest Davis do a great job separating truth from bullshit to understand why we might not have real A.I. in twenty years and what we can do to get way closer.”

Penn Jillette, Emmy-Winning Magician, Actor and New York Times Bestselling Author

“A must-read for anyone who cares about the future of artificial intelligence, filled with masterful storytelling and clear and easy-to-digest examples. Simultaneously puncturing hype and plotting a new course towards toward truly successful AI, 'Rebooting AI' offers the first rational look at what AI can and can’t do, and what it will take to build AI that we can genuinely trust. And it does it in a way that engages the reader and ultimately celebrates both what AI has accomplished and the strengths and power of the human mind.”

Annie Duke, Bestselling Author, "Thinking in Bets: Making Smarter Decisions When You Don't Have All the Facts"