Wired Magazine’s 25 most influential figures in tech of the previous 25 years.
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Special Musical Performance: Jaron Lanier (flute), Stephon Alexander (tenor saxophone), Thievery Corporation alum Hash (bass), and Jesús Ayundar (congas) all partnering with the world-class Richard Snyder for a once-in-a-lifetime musical performance.

Join us as scientific innovation and artistic vision blow your mind right here in the ERC.

📅 April 23
🕔 5:00 PM EDT
📍 Engineering Research Center, Hazeltine Commons

Talk Title: How does theory need to change because of AI?

Abstract: Theory has long favored reductionism—capturing phenomena with compact equations. Yet fields like medicine, economics, geology, and neuroscience have advanced by rigorously managing irreducible complexity. While we once expected them to become more reductive, computer science is moving the other way: from simplicity toward complexity, with AI models growing ever larger and more powerful. This shift suggests science itself may move beyond strict reductionism, requiring clearer foundations for a partially post-reductive era.
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Jaron Lanier is currently the Prime Unifying Scientist at Microsoft. He is a computer scientist, writer, musician, and artist. He is sometimes described as the conscience of Silicon Valley.

Photo: Joseph Gordon Levitt
Graphic art: Valerie DeLaCámara/Brown University