Computers, People, and Information.

Haym Hirsh (Rutgers University, NSF)

Friday February 15, 2008
10:30 a.m. - SENSQ 5317

Refreshments at 10:00 a.m.

Abstract

The advent of computing has transformed nearly all aspects of our society, redefining the nature of information and revolutionizing how people conduct their lives. However, despite many decades' work on understanding the capabilities and limitations of computing, we face particularly significant challenges when we contemplate the human use of computing. How does the addition of people enhance or limit what is achievable by people and computers together? How do we design systems that capitalize on people's strengths and recognize their constraints? How do we build information systems and data technologies that reflect people's use of information rather than dictate how information must be structured and used? In this talk I will describe some of the challenges that computer and information science and engineering must confront in the design of computer and information systems that work effectively and transparently with people.

Biography of speaker

Haym Hirsh received his BS degree from the Mathematics and Computer Science Departments at UCLA and his MS and PhD from the Computer Science Department at Stanford University. He is a Professor of Computer Science at Rutgers University, and has also held visiting positions at Bar-Ilan University, CMU, MIT, NYU, and the University of Zurich. He is currently Director of the Division of Information and Intelligent Systems at the U.S. National Science Foundation's Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering. Haym's research is on foundations and applications of machine learning, data mining, and information retrieval.