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  • Feb
    1

    CS Seminar: Interpreting AI for Science Models: Why Explainability, Scrutiny, and Transparency Enable Scientific Discovery, Not Limit It (Austin Clyde)

    Department of Computer Science (CS)

    12:00 PM 3514, Mudd Hall ( formerly Seeley G. Mudd Library)

    EVENT DETAILS

    Wednesday / CS Seminar
    February 1st / 12:00 PM
    Hybrid / Mudd 3514

    Title: Interpreting AI for Science Models: Why Explainability, Scrutiny, and Transparency Enable Scientific Discovery, Not Limit It
    Speaker: Austin Clyde

    Zoom Link

    Livestream

    Abstract:
    Despite artificial intelligence's (AI) achievements in numerous scientific challenges, many fear that AI threatens human creativity and intelligence. These fears echo an ancient myth that writing would weaken memory and lead to only a semblance of understanding. Unlike this myth's fears, today, we find the interpretation of texts as a source of new possibilities and freedoms, not deferent regurgitation. Interpretation is not just for text but enables a range of freedoms, from developing new human rights to scientific understanding. In this talk, I argue that interpretability needs to be a first-class principle in data science education, engineering, and theory—not a post-hoc consideration—to meet global citizens' most pressing needs from science. Using examples from my research, I show how taking interpretation as a core concern leads to state-of-the-art technical solutions, such as accelerating early-stage drug discovery platforms 100-fold and developing novel solutions to the chemical enumeration problem with large-language models. Motivated by these examples, I will discuss how this conceptual shift reveals new paths for explainability research, such as treating the model development process as causal. Explainability in this plural way has exciting implications for numerous legal and human rights challenges in deploying automated decision systems. By opening data science to interpretative flexibility and providing a humanistic education within data science, citizens can contest, argue, and shape claims made by and about AI decision-making systems. This core component of agency, the freedom to interpret and shape claims, is critical to scientific success and fostering well-functioning democracies.

    Biography:
    Austin Clyde is an Assistant Computational Scientist in the Data Science and Learning Division at Argonne National Laboratory. He holds a Ph.D. in computer science from the University of Chicago, where he continues to lecture at the Pozen Family Center for Human Rights. His research has received the ACM Gordon Bell Special Prize for HPC-Based COVID-19 Research in 2020 and 2022 and a Department of Energy Secretary's Honor Award for involvement in the National Virtual Biotechnology Laboratory's COVID-19 Response. Previously, he was a visiting research fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School's Program on Science, Technology, and Society.

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    TIME Wednesday, February 1, 2023 at 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM

    LOCATION 3514, Mudd Hall ( formerly Seeley G. Mudd Library)    map it

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    CONTACT Wynante R Charles    wynante.charles@northwestern.edu EMAIL

    CALENDAR Department of Computer Science (CS)

  • Aug
    20

    Alumni Education Webinar: McCormick School of Engineering's Strategic Vision

    McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science

    12:00 PM

    EVENT DETAILS

    TIME Wednesday, August 20, 2025 at 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM

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    CONTACT Andi Joppie    andi.joppie@northwestern.edu EMAIL

    CALENDAR McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science

  • Sep
    8

    Welcome & Breakfast for New McCormick PhD Students

    McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science

    9:00 AM LR2 & Tech East Plaza, Technological Institute

    EVENT DETAILS

    TIME Monday, September 8, 2025 at 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM

    LOCATION LR2 & Tech East Plaza, Technological Institute    map it

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    CONTACT Andi Joppie    andi.joppie@northwestern.edu EMAIL

    CALENDAR McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science

  • Sep
    12

    New Undergraduate Fall 2025 Registration

    University Academic Calendar

    All Day

    EVENT DETAILS

    TIME Friday, September 12, 2025

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    CONTACT Office of the Registrar    nu-registrar@northwestern.edu EMAIL

    CALENDAR University Academic Calendar

  • Sep
    15

    Welcome & Luncheon for New Full-time Graduate Students

    McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science

    11:00 AM Ryan Auditorium & Tech East Plaza, Technological Institute

    EVENT DETAILS

    TIME Monday, September 15, 2025 at 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM

    LOCATION Ryan Auditorium & Tech East Plaza, Technological Institute    map it

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    CONTACT Andi Joppie    andi.joppie@northwestern.edu EMAIL

    CALENDAR McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science

  • Sep
    16

    Fall Classes Begin. Change of Registration (Drop/Add) Late registration for returning students begins

    University Academic Calendar

    All Day

    EVENT DETAILS

    TIME Tuesday, September 16, 2025

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    CONTACT Office of the Registrar    nu-registrar@northwestern.edu EMAIL

    CALENDAR University Academic Calendar

  • Sep
    25

    Bagel Thursday

    Department of Computer Science (CS)

    9:00 AM

    EVENT DETAILS

    TIME Thursday, September 25, 2025 at 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM

    ADD TO CALENDAR

    CONTACT Wynante R Charles    wynante.charles@northwestern.edu EMAIL

    CALENDAR Department of Computer Science (CS)