Plenary Talk – Ashley Llorens, Microsoft Research
5:00 pm to 6:30 pm, February 23 in person at CSL B02 or on Zoom
Talk on “Advancing Science and Technology to Benefit Humanity”
Bio: Ashley Llorens is Vice President and Distinguished Scientist at Microsoft Research. In this role he leads global outreach programs for MSR as well as internal engagement programs that bridge research and product. Prior to joining Microsoft, he served as the founding chief of the Intelligent Systems Center at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, where he directed research and development in artificial intelligence, robotics, and neuroscience. His background is in machine learning and signal processing and current research interests include reinforcement learning for real-world systems, machine decision-making under uncertainty, human-machine teaming, and practical AI safety. He’s served on advisory boards and strategic studies for the U.S. Department of Defense, the U.S. Department of Energy, and the National Academy of Sciences. He was recently nominated by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy to serve as an AI expert on the Global Partnership on AI and currently serves as the Science Representative on its inaugural steering committee. Ashley holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.