Q: What is the most important thing that's happened in computing in the past 10 years?
A: Without a doubt, the many different ways that computing has connected people and devices. We are connected to satellites that guide us while we drive, walk, or ride our bikes; we connect to computers around the world and use them as if they are on our desks; and we can connect to our homes, cars, and appliances. We are connected by social networks; we build collective knowledge through collaborative systems (see Wikipedia, as an example); and we work simultaneously with colleagues on the same documents. With this explosion of connections, both hardware and software have evolved at an unimaginable pace.
Q: By the end of your career, where do you
think computer science will have taken us? What are you
working on that might contribute toward that?
A: I think that computer science is in its early stages in creating intelligence from computing. I think (well, I hope) that by the end of my career (that is, 30-40 years), computer science will provide more intelligence in the technology we use. In my research, I am developing intelligent systems that can learn knowledge from data and are capable of communicating it to users in an understandable form. (Of course, this is the just a drop in an ocean.) However, I think that computer science must experience a paradigm shift in order to provide systems that can be considered truly intelligent, that is, to pass from a reductionist point of view of computing (where we know the exact behavior of any component of a computer system) to a more systemic point of view (where we expect intelligence as an emerging property of a complex, dynamical, computing system).
Q: Who is your favorite historical figure? Why?
A: Alan Turing. This seems an obvious choice for a computer scientist, but Turing really is a figure that deserves merit and admiration beyond the usual clichés. His geniality was extremely broad, passing from formal systems (the Turing machine), through neural networks, to biology. He was a mathematician and a philosopher, but a simple person, who looked at the world with the eyes of a child.
Q: If you weren't working in the computer science field, what would you be doing instead?
A: I would have been a mathematician, or … a naturalist! I like mathematics because I love the elegance of abstraction and the perfection of the worlds that this science builds. But I would also like to be a naturalist because nature overwhelms me with its beauty, built by a blind watchmaker.
Q: What is your favorite type of music?
A: I am fond of British Rock of ‘70s and ‘80s. I love Pink Floyd because of their unique music and unconventional lyrics, but I also like Dire Straits, Queen, and U2.
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Click here to learn more about Corrado, and here to read one of his recent reviews.
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