Barry and Florence Friedberg Lifelong Learning Center, Friedberg auditorium

Join award-winning science journalist Carl Zimmer for a discussion on AI at Florida Atlantic University. Carl Zimmer is a columnist for The New York Times and an expert on topics ranging from evolution to pandemics to brain-mapping. He is the author of fifteen widely praised books and is a regular contributor to magazines including National Geographic and The Atlantic.

About the Talk

Artificial intelligence is increasingly becoming a part of our everyday lives, from planning vacations to editing photos. But biologists are using the same underlying software to explore some of the deepest mysteries of life. These foundation models, as they're called, can learn by themselves how proteins fold into their intricately complex structures. They can make up new proteins from scratch. Even more ambitiously, foundation models are making sense of how thousands of genes work together inside our cells to keep us alive. In a few weeks, computers can analyze data from millions of cells and teach themselves some of the most fundamental principles of biology. What will they discover next? And will they put biologists out of a job? In this talk, Carl Zimmer draws on his reporting for the New York Times and in books like Life Itself to take his audience on a mind-bending trip into the not-so-distant future, when computers can discover how to make new kinds of cells, and maybe new kinds of life.

Schedule of Events

5:30-6:30: Lecture

6:30-7:30: Reception, with books for sale in lobby

The Nat and Dorothy Hyman Science Lecture Series in the Florida Atlantic Charles E. Schmidt College of Science

This event was made possible by the Nat and Dorothy Hyman (NDH) Science Lecture Series, through the support of Florida Atlantic alumnus, Jerry Hyman, son of Nat and Dorothy Hyman. The NDH Science Lecture Series was created to encourage and inspire students in the sciences, and provide access to educational lectures by leaders in the scientific fields for FAU students, faculty, and community members, free of charge. This lecture series is organized by the Charles E. Schmidt College of Science.

Lecture