On the 90th birth anniversary of pioneering psychologist & artificial intelligence researcher, Frank Rosenblatt, born July 11, 1928 died July 11, 1971, we will be remembering his work on connectionism, the incredible Mark 1 Perceptron, the controversy & resurgence of connectionism & neural networks as a tool in artificial intelligence.

Here is a brief biography of Frank Rosenblatt (Via Wikipedia):

Frank Rosenblatt was born in New Rochelle, New York as son of Dr. Frank & Katherine Rosenblatt. After graduating from The Bronx High School of Science in 1946, he attended Cornell University, where he obtained his A.B. in 1950 & his Ph.D. in 1956.

He then went to Cornell Aeronautical Laboratory in Buffalo, New York, where he was successively a research psychologist, senior psychologist, & head of the cognitive systems section. This is also where he conducted the early work on perceptrons, which culminated in the development & hardware construction of the Mark I Perceptron in 1960. This was essentially the first computer that could learn new skills by trial & error, using a type of neural network that simulates human thought processes.

Rosenblatts research interests were exceptionally broad. In 1959 he went to Cornells Ithaca campus as director of the Cognitive Systems Research Program & also as a lecturer in the Psychology Department. In 1966 he joined the Section of Neurobiology & Behavior within the newly formed Division of Biological Sciences, as associate professor. Also in 1966, he became fascinated with the transfer of learned behavior from trained to naive rats by the injection of brain extracts, a subject on which he would publish extensively in later years.

In 1970 he became field representative for the Graduate Field of Neurobiology & Behavior, & in 1971 he shared the acting chairmanship of the Section of Neurobiology & Behavior. Frank Rosenblatt died in July 1971 on his 43rd birthday, in a boating accident in Chesapeake Bay.

The image in the description is the Mark 1 Perceptron at Smithsonian Institute, Washington DC.

We will be meeting at WeWork, Tower 49, 9th floor, room 9E. Sign in using Hilary Piech as the host.

Please bring a valid ID to gain access to the building.