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Rosalind Picard

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Rosalind W. Picard is director of the Affective Computing Research Group at the MIT Media Lab, and co-director of the Things That Think Consortium, the largest industrial sponsorship organization at the lab. Picard is the author of Affective Computing, published in 1997. In 2005, she was named a Fellow of the IEEE.

The Affective Computing Research Group develops tools, techniques, and devices for sensing, interpreting, and processing emotion signals that drive state-of-the-art systems which respond Picard has served on many science and engineering program committees, editorial boards, and review panels, and is presently serving on the editorial board of User Modeling and User-Adapted Interaction: The Journal of Personalization Research, as well as on the advisory boards for the National Science Foundation's division of Computers in Science and Engineering (CISE) and for the Georgia Tech College of Computing.intelligently to human emotional states. Applications of their research include improved tutoring systems and assistive technology for use in alleviating Autism.

She holds a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering with highest honors from the Georgia Institute of Technology, and master's and doctorate degrees, both in electrical engineering and computer science, from MIT. She has been a member of the faculty at the MIT Media Laboratory since 1991, with tenure since 1998.She is recipient (with Tom Minka) of a best paper prize for work on machine learning with multiple models (1998) and is recipient (with Barry Kort and Rob Reilly) of a "best theory paper" prize for their work on affect in human learning (2001).

She is recipient (with Tom Minka) of a best paper prize for work on machine learning with multiple models (1998).

Her book, Affective Computing, (MIT Press, 1997) lays the groundwork for giving machines the skills of emotional intelligence.

Darwin Dissent Controversy

In February 2006, the New York Times reported that Dr. Picard was one of 300 professonals who signed the Discovery Institute's controversial petition, "A Scientific Dissent From Darwinism". This two-sentence petition has been widely exploited by its sponsor, the Discovery Institute, and some of their supporters in a national campaign to discredit evolution and to promote the teaching of intelligent design in public schools. It has been the subject of criticism and parody.

The original petition, as circulated, signed, and published did not carry the title "A Scientific Dissent From Darwinism." That infamous title, along with two additional intervening paragraphs of interpretation and commentary (about the PBS series on evolution) appeared in an ad framing the two-sentence quote and accompanying signatures.

Healthy skepticism calls for a careful examination of the evidence. The evidence clearly shows that the original 103 signatories (including Picard) signed only a two-sentence call for healthy skepticism, and not the entire ad, including its revisionist title and additional commentary and spin.

Picard's field of affective computing is unrelated to evolutionary biology. Writer Ed Brayton, co-founder of "Michigan Citizens for Science" and the The Panda's Thumb website, writes that, "the majority of the people on that list have no training or expertise in evolutionary biology at all. Now that doesn't necessarily mean that they don't know what they're talking about, but it does mean that putting them on a list that is used solely as an appeal to authority is ridiculous, since they have no authority in the field."

References

  1. Media Lab Faculty Biography
  2. Publication of Affective Computing
  3. IEEE Fellows of the Class of 2005
  4. Research Projects of the Affective Computing Research Group
  5. Affective Computing Group Web Page
  6. Current and Past Projects
  7. MIT Faculty Biography Page
  8. Affective Learning Companion
  9. MIT Faculty Biography Page
  10. MIT Press Publication of Affective Computing
  11. Few Biologists but Many Evangelicals Sign Anti-Evolution Petition
  12. Signatories of 'A Scientific Dissent From Darwinism'
  13. Doubts Over Evolution Mount With Over 300 Scientists Expressing Skepticism With Central Tenet of Darwin's Theory
  14. NSCE Article: Doubting Darwinism through Creative License
  15. Neurosurgeon Challenges Evolution, PZ Myers, Pharyngula, Science Blogs, February 19, 2007 9:32 AM

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