On May 9 in Toronto, Technion Canada Major Gifts Director Jennifer Singer and her husband Barry hosted “Cocktails and Conversation” for their friends, family and select Technion Canada Community members.
Forty attendees came to hear Prof. Shahar Kvatinsky talk about Artificial Intelligence, how it compares to human intelligence and how AI will be used in the future. Shahar had a lively presentation with audience participation and a lively Q & A. We learned that AI isn’t cheap; whether it’s ChatGPT or AlphaGo (a computer program that plays the board game Go), companies need huge rooms of servers and incredible amounts of electricity.
Prof. Kvatinsky also shared a bit of information about his time in the IDF reserves. On October 7, he was on sabbatical from the Technion and living in Toronto with his family. That day he got on a flight to Israel to join his unit in the Golani Brigade. Shahar returned in the end of January from fighting in Gaza – one of more than 3000 Technion Community Members on reserve duty.
Thank you to Jennifer & Barry, Shahar and the rest of the attendees for a fantastic evening.