7th Deep Learning Meetup in Vienna

Hi Deep Learners!

For our next meetup on 1.12. we are going to make an excursion: not only for the venue*) but also for our topic:

We are going to look into Natural Neural Networks (yes, the thing in our brains ;-), and compare them with how Artificial Neural Networks (yes, Deep Learning ;-) work!

So it's going to be Natural vs. Artificial Neural Networks, and we have the following two speakers:

• Sabria Lagoun: How can we learn from Neuroscience?

Biological systems are equipped with light, powerful and cost-efficient natural-learners: neuronal networks. Cutting-edge technologies allow us to explore, visualize and manipulate the brain.

This short introduction will outline how to record and model network activity during perception, learning, and decision-making tasks. It turns out that specific types of neurons seem to have certain connectivity patterns between them. What matters most? The connectivity patterns or the operators involved in the network?

Sabria is a PhD candidate in Cognitive Neurobiology in the center of Brain Research at the Med Uni Vienna.

• Kornél Kis: Convolutional Neural Networks: Applications and a short timeline

This talk will present the key points of building and using one of the current prevalent forms of Artificial Neural Networks for various practical problems: Convolutional Neural Networks (a.k.a. ConvNets or CNNs). Several milestones of the evolution of ConvNets will be discussed up until the latest developments. The talk tries to give a brief overview of how ConvNets are able to learn patterns from data and tries to answer the question: What makes Convolutional Neural Networks so effective?

Kornél is an MSc student and researcher working on the applications of deep learning in speech technology.

After that, we are going to have our 10 minute "Hot Topics" section (contributions welcome!) and then plenty of time for discussions.

*) This meetup is hosted by Virtual Identity (http://virtual-identity.com) (formerly Knallgrau) at Schönbrunner Straße 213-215, 1120 Wien, who will kindly support us with snacks and drinks.

The closest metro station is U4/U6 Längenfeldgasse.

Looking forward!

Tom & Jan