Standford University
Trips
21. March 2021
Manfred Goschler
After visiting the Computer History Museum and taking a quick look at two companies (internal link), a visit to Standford University in Silicon Valley should of course not be missed. We first do a 360 ° virtual tour over the spacious campus, where the sandstone buildings with subtle colors blend in tastefully with nature. Of course, the well-known sunny climate in California should contribute to the fact that you can feel comfortable here as a student or teacher and that you are particularly motivated to give your best here.
Computer science
After this tour, I wanted to take a closer look at the departments. The university, organized in different schools, departments and research centers, offers a comprehensive study and research program. I’m interested in engineering and interdisciplinary areas. There I find the computer science area that is interesting for me, which belongs to the “School of Engineering” and conducts training and research. Standford is one of the most prestigious universities in this field and can boast the most winners of the Turing Awards, for example. I made up my mind to take a closer look at the relevant branches of research later.
HAI Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence
While looking through the other research areas, I came across the Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence Institute and found an interesting prognosis on the welcome page that begins as follows:
„We are on the cusp of The Age of Artificial Intelligence. The scope and scale of impact of the Age of AI will be more profound than any other period of transformation in our history. AI has the potential to radically transform every industry and every society…“.
Further explanations and an introductory video are attached.
Since I basically share this view that AI technology will have a very strong influence on us in the future, the statement made by this renowned university is particularly important. This is precisely why it is also important to be clear about your own point of view on this technology. This of course includes transparency, which I think I see in this university environment and which will hopefully make it possible to better understand this new technology, both large and small. I suspect that we will encounter it in a variety of forms in the future and that it will influence our relationship with one another as people, but also with the new modern “machines”. In any case, I feel motivated to get to know this research area better.
