Author Talk with Judea Pearl

Tuesday, May 15, 2018 – 2:00pm to 4:00pm

The Book of Why“Correlation is not causation.” Chanted by scientists for more than a century, this mantra has led to a virtual prohibition on causal talk. Today, that taboo is dead.

The causal revolution, instigated by Judea Pearl and his colleagues, cut through a century of confusion and established causality – the study of cause and effect – on a firm scientific basis. His work explains how we can know easy things, like whether rain or a sprinkler made a sidewalk wet, and how to answer hard questions, like whether a drug cured an illness.

Pearl’s work enables us to know not just whether one thing causes another; it lets us explore the world that is and the worlds that could have been. It shows us the essence of human thought and the key to artificial intelligence. Co-authored with Dana Mackenzie, a PhD mathematician turned science writer, The Book of Why is for anyone who wants to understand either. Learn more at WHY>.

Judea Pearl is Chancellor’s Professor of Computer Science and Statistics at UCLA, where he currently directs the Cognitive Systems Laboratory and conducts research in artificial intelligence, human cognition, and philosophy of science. He is the 2011 recipient of the Turing Award, often referred to as the “Nobel Prize of Computing,” given annually by the Association for Computing Machinery.

A book signing will follow; books will be available for purchase.

Free admission. RSVPs requested.

Judea Pearl

Date/Time:
Date(s) - May 15, 2018
2:00 pm PDT - 4:00 pm PDT

Location:
Research Library (Charles E. Young)
280 Charles E Young Dr N Los angeles California 90095