The Risks of Unreliable Genius: Lessons Learned from Working With Generative AI at Amazon Alexa.

ECS 660

update: Video Recording Abstract: Generative text AI has just recently caught the public’s imagination, but the technology underlying ChatGPT has been well known in industry for years. In this talk, a former Principal Product Manager for Alexa, will demystify what generative text AI models are, what new capabilities they bring, and what risks they introduce. […]

May 19, 2023: Heather Russell: High Energy Physics and Data Science

ECS 660

May 19, 2023: Heather Russell: High Energy Physics and Data Science. 10:30am-11:30am. ECS 660.  Title: Data analysis at the LHC Abstract: Over ten thousand scientists are currently studying hundreds of petabytes of data collected at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN. On top of that, the LHC is colliding protons inside our detectors at […]

Lisa Goddard and Sarah Huber: Data Services for UVic Researchers

ECS 108 Engineering and Computer Science Building, Room 108, Victoria, BC, Canada

Data Services for UVic Researchers (note different time/location) Research Data are increasingly recognized as critical research outputs which, brought together across projects and disciplines, can help us to solve some of the most pressing global problems. In order to realize this lofty goal, researchers require access to data infrastructure, services, and expertise at their own […]

Swapnil Hingmire: WikiLDA: Enhancing Interpretability of LDA Topics Using Wikipedia

ECS 660

Please RSVP at this form. Zoom link is available upon RSVP. Video now available. Abstract: Important goals of topic models like Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) are to explore, summarize, and visualize unstructured document corpora. However, recent work has shown that some of these goals are best satisfied if a user is able to interpret and […]

Andy Zaidman: An Inconvenient Truth in Software Engineering? The Environmental Impact of Testing Open Source Java Projects

ECS 660

Abstract: As we have come to rely on software systems in our daily lives, we have a clear expectation about the reliability of these systems. To ensure this reliability, automated software quality assurance processes have become an important part of software development. How do software engineers in the wild use these quality assurance approaches? And […]

Carson Farmer: Beyond the bubble: Blockchain after the buzz

ECS 660

Please RSVP at this form. Zoom link is available upon RSVP. Abstract: The roller-coaster trajectory of cryptocurrency valuations has captured global attention, often overshadowing the foundational technology that underpins it: the blockchain. In the wake of the recent crypto crash, many critics have been quick to dismiss the entire domain as mere hype and speculation. […]

Emma Ladouceur: Biodiversity Synthesis: Meta-science in a changing world

EOW 430 9882 Ring Rd, Victoria, BC, Canada

Please RSVP at this form. Zoom link is available upon RSVP. NOTE: Location change to EOW 430. Abstract Ecosystems and biodiversity are increasingly being impacted by human activities. Detecting and understanding changes in biodiversity is a challenge for a couple of reasons. 1) Transcending the results of an individual study or site within a limited […]

Canceled Matrix Seminar: Regan Mandryk, The Science of Social Gaming: A Data-Centric Approach

ECS 660

Please RSVP for zoom link at https://forms.office.com/r/0dEvggZvVQ Title: The Science of Social Gaming: A Data-Centric Approach Abstract: Games have long been used to support social interaction and create shared experiences. Digital games are increasingly being used to form and maintain relationships, and in-game friendships have been shown to help satisfy our need to belong and […]