BCB at ISU- Speaker Information

Dr. Etsuko Moriyama

Candidate Seminar for Animal and Veterinary Science Bioinformatics Position

Gleaning information from genomic data: from protein function to codon usage

Dr. Etsuko Moriyama
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Yale University Thursday, Oct 26, 2000
12:10 pm
Ensminger room Kildee Hall

Dr. Massimo Negrotti

Sponsored by the Dept of Computer Science and Complex Adaptive Systems Program

Sciences and Cultures of the Artificial: Methodological Constraints on Reproducing Nature

Dr. Massimo Negrotti
Professor of Methodology of Human Sciences
IMES-LCA
The Lab for the Culture of Artificial
University of Urbino, Italy Thursday, Oct 26, 2000
3:40 pm
Room B29 Atanasoff Hall
Refreshments will be served afterwards in 225 Atanasoff Hall

Abstract
The technology of the artificial may be defined as the effort to replicate or mimic natural objects or processes by means of current conventional technology and materials. Artificial intelligence is an example of such an endeavor. This talk will report on the results of a theoretical study of the logic characterizing any attempt to design something artificial. Sciences of the artificial focus on discipline-specific problems of reproducing natural objects or processes. We will be concerned with the sciences of the artificial in their own right. We will attempt to characterize the assumptions, methodologies, constraints, questions, and problems that are shared by the sciences of the artificial regardless of the specifics of each domain. The result is an outline of a general theory of the artificial.

Dr. Massimo Negrotti is Professor of Methodology of human sciences at the University of Urbino and Director of IMES-LCA (Istituto Metodologico Economico Statistico - Lab for the culture of the Artificial). Professor Negrotti has investigated the relationship between artificial intelligence models and human cultures from theoretical and empirical perspectives since 1985. More recently, his work has focused on the theme of the artificial as a key concept for understanding a wide range of human behaviour. Professor Negrotti has published extensively on this topic. Among his publications are "Understanding the Artificial", an edited collection published by Springer-Verlag in 1991; "The Theory of the Artificial", published by Intellect Books in 1999; "Designing the Artificial" to be published by the MIT press. A special issue of the AI & Society journal on the culture of the artificial guest edited by Professor Negrotti is currently in press. Professor Negrotti has also lectured extensively on this topic around the world.