Conference: “What is an algorithm?”

Triolet Campus, Polytech, Building 31, Serge Peytavin Lecture Hall – Place Eugène Bataillon, 34090 Montpellier.

Professor Pascal Nouvel, philosopher, will give a lecture at Polytech Montpellier entitled "What is an Algorithm?" Developments in artificial intelligence are giving rise to numerous debates about the role it could soon play in human societies.

The scope of possibilities opened up by these techniques inspires both enthusiasm and concern. At the heart of all these devices are algorithms. In this lecture, I will therefore begin by asking the question: what is an algorithm? I will follow up by asking: what gives an algorithm the particular ability to "recognize patterns"? Indeed, "pattern recognition" is another, perhaps more accurate, name for artificial intelligence. In this regard, I will ask the question: where does the assimilation between intelligence (artificial or otherwise) and pattern recognition come from? This simple question leads us, as we shall see, to revisit the entire history of philosophy.

Pascal Nouvel, Doctor of Science (Biology) and Doctor of Letters (Philosophy), Professor of Philosophy, University of Tours, member of the Education, Ethics, and Health team (EA 7505), Director of the Center for Ethics and Contemporary Philosophy.

He is the author of L’art d’aimer la science (PUF, 2000), Enquête sur le concept de modèle (2003, co-edited), Le possible et les biotechnologies (PUF, 2003, with Claude Debru), Histoire des amphétamines (PUF, 2009), La philosophie des sciences (PUF, 2011), and Axiomatique des sentiments (Hermann, 2015).

This lecture will be followed by a roundtable discussion entitled "The Challenges of Interdisciplinarity for a Sustainable World."

• In attendance:
  Mokrane Bouzehoub, Professor at UVSQ, Deputy Scientific Director of the Institute for Information Sciences and their Interactions (INS2i) at CNRS,
• Michel Robert, Professor, University of Montpellier, Head of the HCERES Institutional Evaluation Department
• Wilfried Sanchez, Deputy Scientific Director, IFREMER,
• Bertrand Fourcade, Professor, University of Grenoble Alpes,
• François Pierrot, DR CNRS, Executive Director of I-SITE MUSE.

Registration for the conference/roundtable discussion and cocktail reception is free but mandatory before July 4.

• Register online