AI and Robots in the Roaring 2020’s with Ken Goldberg

After the Great Influenza Pandemic 100 years ago, the world economy flourished with advances in physics, electricity, and transportation. The post-Covid 2020’s seem poised for similar growth in the wake of stunning progress in biology, materials, and Artificial Intelligence.  

Eminent robotics expert and inventor Ken Goldberg believes that robots will play a central role in this incredible growth by increasing productivity in industry, agriculture, and healthcare. At Arts & Culture on Wednesday, February 5, at 7 p.m., he will explain the latest developments in robotics and describe the widespread impacts of this important field, pointing out where hype exceeds reality. 

Tickets for this program are $5 for club members and students and $10 for non-members. Please register early so we can be sure to accommodate everyone comfortably. 

Professor Goldberg is the William S. Floyd Jr. Distinguished Chair in Engineering at UC Berkeley and the chief scientist of Ambi Robotics. He is a popular public speaker, known for his clear explanations and helpful — and often humorous — illustrations. His Ted Talk, “Why Don’t We Have Better Robots Yet?” has been viewed more than 700,000 times. (Hint: Robots are great at accomplishing tasks humans find difficult but not so great at tasks humans find easy.) 

At UC-Berkeley, he teaches the next generation of researchers and entrepreneurs. He supervises  30 students in his robotics lab and is co-founder of the Berkeley AI Research (BAIR) Lab. 

He also is an accomplished artist and filmmaker who works at the intersection of art and technology. His artwork has been featured in 70 exhibits, including the 2000 Whitney Biennial. 

As one of this graduate students  noted, “Prof. Goldberg taught us that all scientists are actually artists, operating at the boundaries of contemporary knowledge and tinkering to create something new.” 

Prof. Goldberg is a member of Berkeley’s department of Industrial Engineering and Operations Research and also has appointments in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, and Art Practice as well as in Radiation Oncology at UCSF. He has published three books and more than 300 papers and holds nine US patents. 

Just as new technologies in the 1920’s did, the technologies of the 2020’s will profoundly alter our lives, Prof. Goldberg predicts. Although he acknowledges that these changes bring some risks, he believes in their potential to greatly enhance our abilities to communicate, work, and innovate. Invite your friends and family to learn about these exciting developments. 

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