Dr. Vivienne Ming explores maximizing human capacity as a theoretical neuroscientist, delusional inventor, and demented author. Over her career she’s founded 6 startups, been chief scientist at 2 others, and launched the “mad science incubator”, Socos Labs, where she explores seemingly intractable problems—from a lone child’s disability to global economic inclusion—for free. As the co-founder and Chief Scientist of Dionysus Health she applies machine learning to lessen the corrosive health effects of chronic stress in communities. She also develops tools for learning at home and in school and TBI, models of bias in hiring and promotion, and neurotechnologies to treat dementia, an outgrowth of her research at UC Berkeley’s Redwood Center for Theoretical Neuroscience. In her free time, Vivienne designs AI systems to treat her son’s diabetes, predict manic episodes in bipolar sufferers, and reunite orphan refugees with extended family members. For relaxation, she writes science fiction and spends time with her wife and children. Vivienne was named one of “10 Women to Watch in Tech” by Inc. Magazine and one of the BBC’s 100 Women in 2017. She is featured frequently for her research and inventions in The Financial Times, The Atlantic, Quartz Magazine and the New York Times.
Analytics + Data
Scene from an Office, 2017: The A.I. Arrives
Dinesh could read a Bloomberg terminal like a radiologist reads an x-ray. He had learned the arcane tools that were supposed to assure his indispensability. Now it turns out he’d taught some damned machine to do his job better than he could. “WHAT THE F**K AM I GOING TO DO?!!” he shouted at the empty office.
Economy
If Kids Were Bonds They’d be the Backbone of the World Economy
If investment into a child’s education accrued interest like a monetary bond, the payouts would be beyond any known interest rate. We know what works; our problem is that we don’t implement the findings. The research is filled with examples of impactful interventions, ranging from stress reduction to reading promotion to mindset and grit, or tenacity, development. We refer to these as meta-learning. It can significantly affect life-outcomes such as general cognitive ability, socioemotional competency, creativity, and curiosity.
Artificial Intelligence
The Evolution Revolution: Kurzweil in Debate
Futurist Ray Kurzweil, UCSD’s Benjamin H. Bratton and neuroscientist entrepreneur Vivienne Ming discuss where AI, biology and machines that learn by themselves are taking us.
Conferences
Techonomy 22
Innovation and technology have the power to save us – if we act rapidly in multiple realms. We face daunting dilemmas – the climate crisis, war, a continuing global pandemic, refugees, and gyrating economies. But there is hope.
Conferences
Techonomy 17
“The idea that fake news on Facebook…influenced the election in any way, I think is a pretty crazy idea,” said Mark Zuckerberg onstage at Techonomy 2016. He has subsequently recanted.
Conferences
Techonomy 16
MANkind’s evolving relationship with tools and MACHINES is nothing new. But the speed at which we, and everything around us, are becoming more closely connected and NETWORKed is.
Conferences
Techonomy 15
Technology as scapegoat has driven fears since at least the industrial revolution. That is as true as ever today, with fears of privacy intrusion, our devices inducing inattention, withdrawal from human contact into screens, job-killing robots, and innumerable business models being destroyed.
