Thursday Morning Talk

Mohsen Raoufi (Science of Intelligence), From State Estimation to Collective Estimation, and from Individuality to Complexity in Swarm Robotic Systems

Using swarm optimization algorithms as heuristic solutions in various engineering problems, including the state estimation of nonlinear systems, has been an inspiration to me for my SCIoI project. We started our project by studying the "Wisdom of Crowds" effect, i.e. the notion that the average of many imperfect estimations, under the right conditions, can potentially yield a

Thursday Morning Talk

Michael Taborsky, “The Evolution of Social Behaviour”

Abstract: The social structure and behaviour of organisms is highly divergent. How can this stunning diversity in nature be explained? I will argue that a few key principles are responsible for the evolution of social behaviour, with all its simple and complex manifestations. Organisms compete for resources. As survival and reproduction require resources and only

Thursday Morning Talk

Santiago Paternain, “Safe Learning for Dynamical Systems and Control”

Abstract: Reinforcement learning has shown great success in controlling complex dynamical systems. However, when training a policy, most algorithms only consider a single objective function. While this may suffice in virtual domains, physical systems must satisfy a set of operational constraints, with safety being of crucial importance. It is natural to express these problems as

Thursday Morning Talk

Lisa-Kristin Richter, “Model Training for Facial Recognition of Raccoons”

MAR 2.057

Machine learning tools have already been used to identify individual animals such as but not limited to pandas, black bears, cows and dogs. These tools can help to improve the quality of non-invasive wildlife monitoring and enhance the information on individual animal behaviour as well as on behaviour within social networks of the animals (Lynn

Thursday Morning Talk

Conor Heins, “Collective Behavior From Surprise Minimization”

MAR 2.057

Abstract:  Collective motion is a familiar sight in nature; groups of distinct, self-propelled individuals appear to move as a coherent whole, exhibiting a rich behavioral repertoire that ranges from directed movement to milling to disordered swarming. Biological collective motion is an emergent phenomenon that is the result of self-organization, whereby macroscopic patterns arise from decentralized,

Thursday Morning Talk

Daniela Vallentin (MPI for Biological Intelligence), “Neural Mechanisms of Vocal Learning and Production in Songbirds”

MAR 2.057

Daniela Vallentin is a neuroscientist and currently the Lise Meitner Reseach Group Leader at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence, heading the 'Neural Circuits for Vocal Communication' Group whose objective is to explore the neural circuits driving skilled motor learning and orchestrating the coordination of precise movements by working with songbirds. Due to the

Thursday Morning Talk

Aravind Battaje and Vito Mengers, “Principles at Play: What is Intelligence?”

MAR 2.057

What is intelligence? We delve into the collaborative efforts at SCIoI, where we aim to understand intelligence through the identification of commonalities. Inspired by ongoing research and historical parallels, we present candidate principles, inviting the audience to contribute insights and discuss their alignment with ongoing projects. This talk marks a step towards refining our understanding

Thursday Morning Talk

Asieh Daneshi (Science of Intelligence), “Behavioral Contagion in Human and Artificial Multi-Agent Systems”

In this talk, Asieh will explore the dynamics of decision-making and risk-taking within social contexts and how everyday decisions, often laden with potential negative outcomes, are influenced not only by individual judgment but significantly by the surrounding social environment. Her research employs the "Balloon Analogue Risk-Taking" experiment in a controlled setting applying VR-technology in order