ABSTRACT: In machine learning, we use data to automatically find dependences in the world, with the goal of predicting future observations. Most machine learning methods build on statistics, but one can also try to go beyond this, assaying causal structures underlying statistical dependences. Can such causal knowledge help prediction in machine learning tasks? We argue that this is indeed the case, due to the fact that causal models are more robust to changes that occur in real world datasets. We discuss implications of causality for machine learning tasks, and argue that many of the hard issues benefit from the causal viewpoint. This includes domain adaptation, semi-supervised learning, transfer, life-long learning, and fairness, as well as an application to the removal of systematic errors in astronomical problems. BIO: Bernhard Schölkopf’s scientific interests are in machine learning and causal inference. He has applied his methods to a number of different fields, ranging from biomedical problems to computational photography and astronomy. Bernhard has researched at AT&T Bell Labs, at GMD FIRST, Berlin, and at Microsoft Research Cambridge, UK, before becoming a Max Planck director in 2001. He is a member of the German Academy of Sciences (Leopoldina), has won the Royal Society Milner Award and the Leibniz Prize, and is an Amazon Distinguished Scholar. Bernhard co-founded the series of Machine Learning Summer Schools, and serves as co-editor-in-chief for the Journal of Machine Learning Research, an early development in open access and today the field’s flagship journal.

Hosted by Professor Judea Pearl – Professor Adnan Darwiche

CLICK HERE TO VIEW VIDEO