Events
Past Event
Benjamin Lindquist - "The Irrational Computer: Chance, Creativity, and the History of Random Neural Nets"
Science in Human Culture Program - Klopsteg Lecture Series
4:30 PM
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Hagstrum 201, University Hall
Details
Speaker
Benjamin Lindquist - History, Northwestern University
Title
"The Irrational Computer"
Abstract
In the middle of the twentieth century, some engineers came to the paradoxical conclusion that before computers could become more “human,” they first had to become less “rational.” In particular, the birth of machine learning hinged on the notion that an unpredictable element was necessary for computers to beat a Turing test or simulate creativity. My study reveals how a perceived link between creativity and chance led to the creation of the first “random” neural networks in the 1950s. This association between randomness and creativity hailed from the art world, where original thought had long been linked to chance operations, divergent thinking, and even mental illness. At the time, rationalist critics attacked random neural nets as careless and chaotic. Historians of computing have followed suit by overemphasizing the tradition of Boolean algebra and deductive logic. In contrast, my work uncovers a faint but perceptible trace of disorder that was central to the rise of machine learning. Rather than viewing the notorious hallucinations of large language models as a recent phenomenon and a deviation from computing’s historical norms, I map the contested meanings of chance to highlight the ongoing political stakes involved in the use and governance of stochastic systems.
Biography
Before earning a Ph.D. from Princeton University, Benjamin Lindquist trained as a painter at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (BFA) and Yale University School of Art (MFA). This background has shaped his current interest in the history of computing. Specifically, his work asks how tools and concepts drawn from the world of art influenced early computer simulations of human creativity, intelligence, and emotion.
Time
Monday, January 13, 2025 at 4:30 PM - 6:00 PM
Location
Hagstrum 201, University Hall Map
Contact
Calendar
Science in Human Culture Program - Klopsteg Lecture Series
Northwestern Engineering PhD Hooding and Master's Recognition Ceremony
McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science
4:00 PM
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Pick-Staiger Concert Hall
Details
The ceremony will take place on Saturday, December 13 in Pick-Staiger Concert Hall, 50 Arts Circle Drive.
Time
Saturday, December 13, 2025 at 4:00 PM - 6:00 PM
Location
Pick-Staiger Concert Hall Map
Contact
Calendar
McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science
Inderpal Bhandari
Northwestern Network for Collaborative Intelligence (NNCI)
12:00 PM
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Guild Lounge, Scott Hall
Details
Join us for NNCI's first Distinguished Speaker event featuring Inderpal Bhandari.
Lunch will be provided. Registration is required.
Time
Tuesday, January 13, 2026 at 12:00 PM - 1:30 PM
Location
Guild Lounge, Scott Hall Map
Contact
Calendar
Northwestern Network for Collaborative Intelligence (NNCI)
U.S. District Court Judge Xavier Rodriguez - NNCI & Pritzker School of Law
Northwestern Network for Collaborative Intelligence (NNCI)
12:15 PM
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Thorne Auditorium, Arthur Rubloff Building
Details
Join us for an in-person Distinguished Speaker event, co-hosted with Pritzker School of Law, featuring Judge Xavier Rodriguez.
Location: Thorne Auditorium, Pritzker School of Law, Chicago Campus
Lunch will be provided. Registration is required.
Time
Tuesday, January 20, 2026 at 12:15 PM - 1:30 PM
Location
Thorne Auditorium, Arthur Rubloff Building Map
Calendar
Northwestern Network for Collaborative Intelligence (NNCI)
"Big-Data Algorithms That Are Not Machine Learning" - Jeffrey Ullman
Northwestern Network for Collaborative Intelligence (NNCI)
12:00 PM
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Ruan Conference Center, Chambers Hall
Details
Join us for an in-person Distinguished Speaker event featuring Jeffrey Ullman, a prominent figure in computer science whose contributions have shaped the foundations of algorithms, databases, and theoretical computing.
Title: "Big-Data Algorithms That Are Not Machine Learning"
Abstract: We shall introduce four algorithms that run very fast on large amounts of data, although typically the answers they give are approximate rather than precise. (1) Locality-sensitive hashing (2) Approximate counting (3) Sampling (4) Counting triangles in graphs.
Lunch will be provided. Registration is required.
Jeff Ullman is the Stanford W. Ascherman Professor of Engineering (Emeritus) in the Department of Computer Science at Stanford and CEO of Gradiance Corp. He received the B.S. degree from Columbia University in 1963 and the PhD from Princeton in 1966. Prior to his appointment at Stanford in 1979, he was a member of the technical staff of Bell Laboratories from 1966-1969, and on the faculty of Princeton University between 1969 and 1979. From 1990-1994, he was chair of the Stanford Computer Science Department. Ullman was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1989, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2012, the National Academy of Sciences in 2020, and has held Guggenheim and Einstein Fellowships. He has received the Sigmod Contributions Award (1996), the ACM Karl V. Karlstrom Outstanding Educator Award (1998), the Knuth Prize (2000), the Sigmod E. F. Codd Innovations award (2006), the IEEE von Neumann medal (2010), the NEC C&C Foundation Prize (2017), and the ACM A.M. Turing Award (2020). He is the author of 16 books, including books on database systems, data mining, compilers, automata theory, and algorithms.
Time
Tuesday, February 10, 2026 at 12:00 PM - 1:30 PM
Location
Ruan Conference Center, Chambers Hall Map
Contact
Calendar
Northwestern Network for Collaborative Intelligence (NNCI)