At Davos, MIT faculty discuss the nature of intelligence

This week at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, MIT professors discussed their efforts to better understand the human mind, the nature of intelligence and the ways in which human and artificial intelligence can be brought together.

Tim Berners-Lee, Tom Malone, Rebecca Saxe, Sebastian Seung and Josh Tenenbaum were among the speakers at the forum’s IdeasLab, in which some of the world’s leading intellectuals and entrepreneurs discussed trends in business, technology and society. MIT President Susan Hockfield introduced the speakers.

Videos of the presentations are available at the following links:

• To watch Berners-Lee, director of the World Wide Web Consortium and professor of engineering, click here;
• To watch Malone, the Patrick J. McGovern (1959) Professor of Management, click here;
• To watch Saxe, the Frederick A. (1971) and Carole J. Middleton Career Development Assistant Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience, click here;
• To watch Seung, professor of computational neuroscience and physics, click here;
• To watch Tenenbaum, associate professor of cognitive science and computation, click here;

Fifteen faculty joined President Hockfield in Davos this year, including Kristin Forbes, professor of international management; Institute Professor Bob Langer; Fred Moavenzadeh, the James Mason Crafts Professor of Systems Engineering and Civil and Environmental Engineering; MIT Energy Initiative Director Ernie Moniz; Nicholas Negroponte, professor in the MIT Media Laboratory; John Ochsendorf, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering and architecture; Sandy Pentland, the Toshiba Professor of Media Arts and Sciences; Carlo Ratti, Associate Professor of the Practice in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning; Yossi Sheffi, director of the Engineering Systems Division and the Center for Transportation and Logistics; and Li-Huei Tsai, the Picower Professor of Neuroscience.