[Lex Computer & Tech Group/LCTG] [LCTG] A set of three talks at the Lexington Community Center about AI and Machine Learning as evidenced in ChatGPT

Thu Oct 19 14:35:26 PDT 2023

Folks,

Here is a message I just sent out to the Lexington List about the series of
three talks being given to our group that are worthwhile experiencing.

The first one was given yesterday (https://youtu.be/hA0EA5WZyZs). Steve
Isenberg did a terrific job of editing out our sometimes excessively chatty
and rambunctious interactions to make the video viewable by a larger
audience -- and in record time.  Thanks Steve!

Subsequent talks are next Wed Oct 25 at 10am in room 237 of the LexCC as
well as on Zoom at (https://bostonu.zoom.us/j/97261460830).  The final talk
will be on Wed Nov 1, same time and addresses.

This talk was as good as I expected.  My head is spinning just thinking
about the possibilities (I'm sure you can imagine).

Regards,

-- Harry

On Thu, Oct 19, 2023 at 5:13 PM Harry Forsdick <forsdick at gmail.com> wrote:

> Folks,
>
> Yesterday's talk at the Lexington Computers and Technology Group by Conor
> O'Mahony about Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and ChatGPT was
> excellent.  Our attendance (both in Meeting Room 237 at the Community
> Center and on Zoom) approximately doubled from our normal POST-COVID
> attendance.  My suspicion that this topic would have wide appeal in the
> community was correct.
>
> Conor properly changed the content of his three talks to be:
>
> [image: image.png]
> You can see a recording of the first talk at https://youtu.be/hA0EA5WZyZs.
> The first talk builds gradually, showing you the kinds of things ChatGTP
> can do: first the simple things, building to some answers that are pretty
> amazing compared to what you can currently get by accessing information on
> the Web through a search engine.  The recording is an hour and a half long:
> set aside some time to watch it.  It's fun to see how Conor is able to use
> ChatCPT to do a lot of amazing things.  Conor's talk builds slowly and is
> within the grasp of all of us.
>
> Once you see what ChatGPT can do, you will naturally wonder, as you would
> after interacting with a very smart person, how much more it can do:
>
>    - How does it reason?
>    - How does it understand?
>    - Does it have a conscience?
>
> That is the topic for next week's talk on October 25th at 10am in room 237
> of the Lexington Community Center and on Zoom at
> https://bostonu.zoom.us/j/97261460830.  The final talk will be on
> November 1st, same time and places.
>
> It's not too late to catch up by looking at the video of yesterday's talk
> at https://youtu.be/hA0EA5WZyZs.  I think you will enjoy seeing the start
> of the next major development in Accessing the World's Knowledge.
>
> Having been involved in the development of the Internet and watched all of
> the things that have changed as a result of the Internet, I am confident
> when I say that ChatGPT and its  cohort of similar systems will
> have an impact as revolutionary as the Internet / World Wide Web have had
> on the world.
>
> Regards,
>
> -- Harry
>
> Harry Forsdick <http://www.forsdick.com/resume/>
> Lexington Photo Scanning <http://lexingtonphotoscan.com/>
> Town Meeting Member Precinct 7 <http://lexingtontmma.org/>
> harry at forsdick.com
> www.forsdick.com
>   46 Burlington St.
> Lexington, MA 02420 <https://goo.gl/xZXT2F>
> (781) 799-6002 (mobile) <callto:17817996002>
> meet.jit.si/HarryForsdick (video)
> Click <http://forsdick.weebly.com/home/my-websites> to see my other
> websites
>
>
>
> On Mon, Oct 16, 2023 at 4:08 PM Harry Forsdick <forsdick at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> [This is an invitation I have just sent out to the Lexington List
>> inviting people to attend Conor O'Mahony's talk about AI/ML/ChatGPT.]
>>
>> Folks,
>>
>> For the next three Wednesday mornings October 18th, 25th and November 1st
>> Conor O'Mahony will talk at the *Lexington Computer and Technology Group* about
>> a topic that has burst onto the scene in the last year and made many ask
>> the questions:
>>
>> How does ChatGPT work?  In fact, how could it possibly work?
>>
>> On these three Wednesdays, Conor will take a look at ChatGPT with the
>> intent of stepping back and doing a top down analysis of what it is, how to
>> use it, and then how it works.  I have summarized Conor's talks in the
>> following outline:
>>
>> One of the problems in trying to understand how ChatGPT works is that we
>> have all heard a variety of incomplete explanations and are left on our own
>> to figure out the missing pieces. This set of talks will step back and
>> introduce ChatGPT methodically by presenting a top-down look at ChatGPT.
>> The talks will attempt to show how several different mechanisms are
>> integrated together to yield the intelligent assistant we would all like to
>> have.
>> October 18: How to Interact with ChatGPT
>>
>> The first talk will look at the goals of the application, how to use it,
>> and some examples of actually using it. Then we will analyze the various
>> tasks ChatGPT must perform in order to be useful.
>>
>>
>>    - Introduction to ChatGPT
>>    - Prompt Engineering: Presenting Results so that you feel like you
>>    are in a conversation
>>
>> October 25: How Intelligent is ChatGPT?
>>
>> The second talk will discuss the nature of the intelligence displayed by
>> ChatGPT. This will be illustrated by some successful examples that are
>> pretty amazing, and then some unsuccessful examples which give more insight
>> into how ChatGPT works.
>>
>>
>>    - Reasoning, Understanding, and Consciousness
>>    - Deeper Look at ChatGPT
>>
>> November 1: Two Additional ChatGPT Topics
>>
>> The third talk will start with a more complex topic: Training: What do
>> you have to do to introduce knowledge into ChatGPT? What are some of the
>> underpinnings that are the core mechanisms of ChatGPT? Plus some additional
>> areas of research needed before ChatGPT will be what people expect from a
>> truly intelligent assistant.
>>
>>
>>    - How ChatGPT is Trained
>>    - Underlying Research that has/will have Made ChatGPT Possible
>>
>>
>> The Lexington Computer and Technology Group meets Wednesdays at the
>> Lexington Community Center in room 237 from 10:00am to 11:30am. The
>> Meetings are available live over Zoom (
>> https://bostonu.zoom.us/j/97261460830) and at your convenience as the
>> presentation will be recorded and posted (after a little editing) to
>> YouTube (see: https://LCTG.toku.us <https://lctg.toku.us/> for links to
>> the recordings).
>>
>> To receive notices of upcoming meetings and join discussions, send an
>> email to LCTG-subscribe at toku.us and include in the body of your email:
>>
>>    - Your full name
>>    - Town of Residence
>>    - Brief self-introduction and your interest in the group
>>    - Optionally, topic(s) of interest you might present or share at a
>>    group meeting
>>
>>
>>
>> If you are curious about how the various AI systems that are sweeping the
>> world are used (with live examples), please attend.  These talks will
>> stay at a high level so that it's OK if you're unfamiliar with the
>> terms, techniques and terminology of AI or Machine Learning.
>>
>> Hope to see you there.
>>
>> Regards,
>>
>> -- Harry
>>
>>
>>
>> Harry Forsdick <http://www.forsdick.com/resume/>
>> Lexington Photo Scanning <http://lexingtonphotoscan.com/>
>> Town Meeting Member Precinct 7 <http://lexingtontmma.org/>
>> harry at forsdick.com
>> www.forsdick.com
>>   46 Burlington St.
>> Lexington, MA 02420 <https://goo.gl/xZXT2F>
>> (781) 799-6002 (mobile) <callto:17817996002>
>> meet.jit.si/HarryForsdick (video)
>> Click <http://forsdick.weebly.com/home/my-websites> to see my other
>> websites
>>
>>
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