Event Summary
ChatGPT has created an explosion of interest in AI since its release, and a large number of other similar efforts. Companies and consumers have been using AI for a while to analyze, classify, predict, translate, etc., but the new branch of generative AI tools allows humans to actually generate new works. There are generative AI tools for creating images, sounds, and video, but ChatGPT and other LLMs are so powerful because everyone can relate to reading and writing text, to conversational language, to crafting prose for articles, reports, essays, user guides, and more. LLMs give us the ability to create the kind of content we consume, and that we need to create for others to consume. However, they are not perfect, and they can be used more effectively with careful prompting, fine-tuning, and more. Join us for this discussion of LLMs and how we can use them and make them better for work and other practical projects. Bring your laptop if you want, and join us as we become more effective users of ChatGPT, Bard, and other LLMs.
Moderators
Jay Boisseau, Executive Director, Austin Forum on Technology & Society and CEO, Vizias
Jay Boisseau is an experienced, recognized leader and strategist in advanced computing technologies, with over 25 years in the field. Jay is the executive director and founder of The Austin Forum on Technology & Society, which he created in 2006 and is the leading monthly technology outreach and engagement event in Austin--and now attracts national and international attendees online. The Austin Forum is one of the pillars of the Austin tech scene, providing connections to information, ideas, collaborations, and community overall. In addition, Jay is CEO, co-founder (June 2014), and a partner in Vizias, a small team of passionate professionals with expertise in high-performance computing (HPC), artificial intelligence (AI), technology community building, and technology outreach & event planning. Vizias staff lead, execute, and support the Austin Forum through Vizias Research, Education, and Outreach, a non-profit dedicated to using technology for positive social impact. Jay has held previous leadership positions at Dell Technologies, the Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) at The University of Texas at Austin, the San Diego Supercomputer Center and the Arctic Region Supercomputing Center. He received his doctorate in astronomy from UT Austin, and his undergraduate degree in astronomy and physics from the University of Virginia.
Luke Wilson, Chief Data Scientist, Vizias
Luke has spent the last 20 years advancing the state of the art in high performance computing and artificial intelligence through roles in academia, finance, and technology. In 2005 Luke joined the Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) and The University of Texas at Austin as a member of HPC research staff and lecturer in the Department of Statistics and Scientific Computation. While at TACC Luke helped in the design, deployment, operations, and programming of more than a dozen Top500 systems from vendors such as IBM, Sun Microsystems, Dell, and Cray. In 2016 Luke became Director of Training and Professional Development at TACC and developed the successful and popular TACC Institute Series of week-long training courses in HPC, Data Analytics, Cloud Computing, HPC Administration, and HPC Leadership.
In 2017 Luke made the move to Dell Technologies, where he served as Chief Data Scientist and Distinguished Engineer for HPC/AI in the Infrastructure Solutions Group. While at Dell Luke led the development and publication of dozens of patents in areas such as infrastructure configuration, cloud computing, and containerization.
In 2022 Luke joined market maker and high-frequency trading firm Optiver as Head of Global Research Infrastructure, where he let a global team advancing their compute, storage, networking, and software strategies and deployments. Luke holds a PhD in Computer Science from the University of Texas at San Antonio and has worked on many high-profile projects, including providing data processing support for the Nobel Prize-winning LIGO project and introducing performance and parallel scaling optimizations for early transformer neural networks, paving the way for technologies like GPT-3/ChatGPT. He is the author of more than two dozen peer-reviewed research papers. Outside of work Luke enjoys science fiction and superhero movies, classical history and Egyptology, golf, and spending time with his wife and 2 children.