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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 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 ran a story reporting an ongoing claim by the Discovery Institute 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 it the subject of criticism and parody. While the Times did not independently substantiate the claims of the Discovery Institute, the story included comments from some of the signers, letting the readers judge for themselves what to make of it.

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. Affective Learning Companion
  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

External links

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