Institute Seminar by Dr. Manish Gupta (Senior Director, Google DeepMind) in LHC-121

Abstract: We begin by presenting recent advances in artificial
intelligence, and in particular, deep learning, foundation models, and
agents. We describe the tremendous progress of these AI models on
problems ranging from understanding, prediction and creativity,
alongside open technical challenges like safety, fairness and
transparency. We describe additional challenges as we seek to advance
Inclusive AI to tackle problems for billions of humans in countries like
India. We present our work on improving multilingual capabilities and
cultural understanding of foundation models like Gemini, on improving
the computational efficiency of LLMs, and analyzing satellite imagery to
transform agriculture and improve the lives of farmers. We then describe
how powerful agentic frameworks built using these models can in turn
help improve the capabilities of AI models. Through these examples, we
hope to convey the excitement of our ability as technologists to make a
difference in the world, and also a fascinating set of open problems to
tackle. We will touch upon the variety of attractive career options
becoming available to technologists with deep AI capabilities. We will
also discuss how graduating students can make choices that enable them
to shape the future and achieve greater career success, and why a greedy
approach that looks attractive now may be highly sub-optimal in terms of
both impact and wealth.

Bio: Dr. Manish Gupta is a Senior Director at Google DeepMind, leading
teams conducting AI research across India, Japan and Singapore.
Previously, Manish has led VideoKen, a video technology startup, and the
research centers for Xerox and IBM in India. As a Senior Manager at the
IBM T.J. Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights, New York, Manish
led the team developing system software for the Blue Gene/L
supercomputer. IBM was awarded a National Medal of Technology and
Innovation for Blue Gene by then US President Barack Obama in 2009, and
the Blue Gene/L team received a Test of Time Award at the Supercomputing
Conference (SC) in 2020. Manish holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science from
the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. He has co-authored about
75 papers, with over 8,000 citations in Google Scholar and h-index of
50, and has been granted 19 US patents. While at IBM, Manish received
two Outstanding Technical Achievement Awards, an Outstanding Innovation
Award and the Lou Gerstner Team Award for Client Excellence. Manish is a
Fellow of ACM and the Indian National Academy of Engineering, and a
recipient of a Distinguished Alumnus Award from IIT Delhi.