Neil David Lawrenceis theDeepMindProfessor of Machine Learning at theUniversity of Cambridgein theDepartment of Computer Science and Technology,[2]senior AIfellowat theAlan Turing Instituteand visiting professor at theUniversity of Sheffield.[3]
Neil Lawrence | |
|---|---|
| Born | Neil David Lawrence |
| Nationality | British |
| Alma mater |
|
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Machine learning Gaussian processes[1] |
| Institutions | |
| Thesis | Variational Inference in Probabilistic Models(2000) |
| Doctoral advisor | Christopher Bishop |
| Website | inverseprobability |
Education
editLawrence obtained aBachelors in Engineeringdegree inmechanical engineeringat theUniversity of Southampton,and aPhDfrom theUniversity of Cambridge,with a thesis on variational inference in probabilistic models, supervised byChristopher Bishop.[4]
Career and research
editLawrence spent a year atMicrosoft Researchbefore serving as a senior lecturer in machine learning and computational biology at theUniversity of Sheffieldfor six years. From 2007 to 2010, Lawrence wasresearch fellowat theUniversity of Manchester'sDepartment of Computer Science,returning to the University of Sheffield in 2010 as the collaborative chair of neuro and computer science.[5]
In 2016, he was appointed director of machine learning atAmazonin Cambridge, where he collaborated withRalf Herbrich,who became director of machine learning at Amazon in Berlin.[6]
Upon his appointment as the inaugural DeepMind Professor Machine Learning at the University of Cambridge in September 2019,Ann Copestakestated Lawrence's addition would have a "transformative effect".[7]
Ambassadorship
editLawrence has advocated for data transparency and privacy, writing several prominent articles inThe Guardiandiscussing issues ranging from the privacy implications of Machine Learning algorithms deployed on citizens,[8][9][10][11][12][excessive citations]the current "state of the art" in the field,[13]the importance of data-sharing[14][15]and academic transparency,[16]to the possibilities for Machine Learning to advance developing nations such as African nations.[17]These efforts have been called "commendable" byDemis Hassabis.[18]
More recently he has been solicited for his opinion on the absence of Machine Learning algorithms during theCOVID-19 pandemic,to which he stated
"This is showing what bulls—t most AI hype is. It's great and it will be useful one day but it's not surprising in a pandemic that we fall back on tried and tested techniques."[19]
Lawrence did host apodcastwith Katherine Gorman calledTalking Machines.[20]
References
edit- ^Neil Lawrencepublications indexed byGoogle Scholar
- ^"Cambridge appoints first DeepMind Professor of Machine Learning".cam.ac.uk.University of Cambridge.18 September 2019.
- ^Neil Lawrencepublications indexed by theScopusbibliographic database.(subscription required)
- ^Lawrence, Neil David (2000).Variational Inference in Probabilistic Models(PDF).thelawrences.net(PhD thesis). University of Cambridge.OCLC894596569.EThOSuk.bl.ethos.621104.Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 18 April 2003.
- ^"Prof. Neil Lawrence".shef.ac.uk.University of Sheffield.15 August 2022. Archived fromthe originalon 12 June 2017.
- ^Monica Nickelsburg (2 September 2016)."Amazon beefs up machine learning presence in UK with new team of researchers".GeekWire.
- ^Tony Quested (18 September 2019)."Amazon ML ace spearheads historic DeepMind Cambridge venture".Business Weekly.
- ^Neil Lawrence (5 March 2015)."Beware the rise of the Digital Oligarchy".The Guardian.
- ^Neil Lawrence (2 April 2015)."Let's learn the rules of the digital road before talking about a web Magna Carta".theguardian.The Guardian.
- ^Neil Lawrence (12 June 2015)."How to prevent creeping artificial intelligence from becoming creepy".The Guardian.
- ^Neil Lawrence (23 July 2015)."The data-driven economy will help marketers exploit us".The Guardian.
- ^ Neil Lawrence (16 November 2015)."The information barons threaten our privacy and our autonomy".The Guardian.
- ^Neil Lawrence (28 January 2016)."Google AI versus the GO Grandmaster--who is the real winner?".The Guardian.
- ^Neil Lawrence (5 May 2016)."Google's NHS deal does not bode well for the future of data-sharing".The Guardian.
- ^Neil Lawrence (3 June 2016)."Data trusts could allay our privacy fears".The Guardian.
- ^Neil Lawrence (29 May 2018)."Why thousands of AI researchers are boycotting the new Nature journal".The Guardian.
- ^Neil Lawrence (25 August 2015)."How Africa can benefit from the Data Revolution".The Guardian.
- ^Oscar Williams (19 September 2019)."Amazon ML Chief departs to take up DeepMind professorship at Cambridge".New Statesman.
- ^Sam Shead (29 April 2020)."A.I. can't solve this: The coronavirus could be highlighting just how overhyped the industry is".CNBC.
- ^"About Talking Machines".