Seminar Series - Tuesday May 25, 2pm - Deep Learning and Statistics: Connections - Professor Padhraic Smyth, Computer Science, University of California Irvine

Tuesday, May 25 at 2 p.m. via Zoom.

Speaker: Professor Padhraic Smyth, Computer Science, University of California Irvine

Abstract: Deep learning techniques have received widespread attention given their impressive empirical performance over a range of pattern recognition problems. These problems include applications in computer science, such as computer vision, text processing, and speech analysis, as well as (more recently) data-driven problems in the natural sciences. Much of this work has occurred outside the context of statistics - yet, many of the key ideas underlying deep learning have statistical foundations. In this talk we will explore deep learning from a statistical perspective. We will discuss some of the key concepts in deep learning and how these concepts are related to well-known ideas in statistical modeling and estimation. We will also highlight key differences, both technically and culturally, in terms of how data analysis problems are approached by researchers in both fields. The talk is intended to be tutorial in nature and accessible to an audience with relatively little knowledge about either deep learning or statistics.