Royal Holloway logo with departmental theme Royal Holloway, University of London

The Computer Learning Research Centre
Royal Holloway, University of London

is proud to announce a new annual lecture

The Kolmogorov Lecture

       

Speaker: Professor Ray Solomonoff
“A General System for Incremental Learning”

Abstract

27th February 2003 5:30pm, Main Lecture Theatre Royal Holloway, University of London

This annual University of London lecture will celebrate the life and work of Andrei Nikolaevich Kolmogorov, one of the greatest mathematical and scientific minds of the last century. It is intended that the lecture will address current issues arising from the impact of Kolmogorov’s work in the fields of mathematical and computer science.

Each Kolmogorov Lecture will be given by one of the leading figures in their field, who will be presented with a medal in recognition of their own contribution to science. The speaker at the inaugural Kolmogorov Lecture will be Professor Ray Solomonoff, Principal Scientist at Oxbridge Research, Massachusetts, and one of the world’s foremost researchers in the field of Kolmogorov Complexity.

In fact, Professor Solomonoff first discovered the Universal Probability Distribution in 1960, and used it as the basis of a general theory of Inductive Inference and Scientific Discovery. Five years later, A. Kolmogorov discovered Kolmogorov Complexity. Though it is very closely related to the universal distribution, Kolmogorov's initial interest was in defining randomness and in complexity itself - he was surprised to learn of the earlier application of this idea to inductive inference.

Solomonoff's lecture will be entitled: "A General System for Incremental Learning". He will discuss important properties of the Universal Distribution, and how we can use it to create a program for machine learning of great power and intelligence. An abstract of this talk is included below and a more complete manuscript - "Progress in Incremental Machine Learning" is available at Professor Solomonoff's website.

This inaugural lecture will take place in 2003, to commemorate the centenary of Kolmogorov’s birth, and will be held in the Main Lecture Theatre at Royal Holloway, University of London on the 27th of February. The lecture will commence at 5:30pm, and be followed by a drinks reception in Royal Holloway’s beautiful Picture Gallery.

The lecture will be open to all, but to reserve a place, or for more information, please contact Luke Slater.The lecture will be open to all, but to reserve a place, or for more information, please contact Luke Slater.


The image of Andrei Kolmogorov appears courtesy of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM)


Last updated Wed, 17-Jun-2009 15:57 GMT
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