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  • Talks 763
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1 - 30 of 1644 results

Bettina Bair: Inside your computer

How does a computer work? The critical components of a computer are the peripherals (including the mouse), the input/output subsystem (which controls what and how much information comes in and out), and the central processing unit (the brains), as well as human-written programs and memory. Bettina Bair walks us through the steps your computer ta...
https://www.ted.com/talks/bettina_bair_inside_your_computer

Kanawat Senanan: How computer memory works

In many ways, our memories make us who we are, helping us remember our past, learn and retain skills, and plan for the future. And for the computers that often act as extensions of ourselves, memory plays much the same role. Kanawat Senanan explains how computer memory works. [Directed by TED-Ed, narrated by Addison Anderson, music by Carlos Pal...
https://www.ted.com/talks/kanawat_senanan_how_computer_memory_works

George Dyson: The birth of the computer

Historian George Dyson tells stories from the birth of the modern computer -- from its 17th-century origins to the hilarious notebooks of some early computer engineers.
https://www.ted.com/talks/george_dyson_the_birth_of_the_computer

Oscar Schwartz: Can a computer write poetry?

If you read a poem and feel moved by it, but then find out it was actually written by a computer, would you feel differently about the experience? Would you think that the computer had expressed itself and been creative, or would you feel like you had fallen for a cheap trick? In this talk, writer Oscar Schwartz examines why we react so strongly...
https://www.ted.com/talks/oscar_schwartz_can_a_computer_write_poetry

Brian Christian: How to manage your time more effectively (according to machines)

Human beings and computers alike share the challenge of how to get as much done as possible in a limited time. Over the last fifty or so years, computer scientists have learned a lot of good strategies for managing time effectively— and they have a lot of experience with what can go wrong. Brian Christian shares how we can use some of these insi...
https://www.ted.com/talks/brian_christian_how_to_manage_your_time_more_effectively_according_to_machines

Shimon Schocken: The self-organizing computer course

Shimon Schocken and Noam Nisan developed a curriculum for their students to build a computer, piece by piece. When they put the course online -- giving away the tools, simulators, chip specifications and other building blocks -- they were surprised that thousands jumped at the opportunity to learn, working independently as well as organizing the...
https://www.ted.com/talks/shimon_schocken_the_self_organizing_computer_course

Kanawat Senanan: How do hard drives work?

The modern hard drive is an object that can likely hold more information than your local library. But how does it store so much information in such a small space? Kanawat Senanan details the generations of engineers, material scientists, and quantum physicists who influenced the creation of this incredibly powerful and precise tool. [Directed by...
https://www.ted.com/talks/kanawat_senanan_how_do_hard_drives_work

James Patten: The best computer interface? Maybe ... your hands

"The computer is an incredibly powerful means of creative expression," says designer and TED Fellow James Patten. But right now, we interact with computers, mainly, by typing and tapping. In this nifty talk and demo, Patten imagines a more visceral, physical way to bring your thoughts and ideas to life in the digital world, taking the computer i...
https://www.ted.com/talks/james_patten_the_best_computer_interface_maybe_your_hands

Shyam Sankar: The rise of human-computer cooperation

Brute computing force alone can't solve the world's problems. Data mining innovator Shyam Sankar explains why solving big problems (like catching terrorists or identifying huge hidden trends) is not a question of finding the right algorithm, but rather the right symbiotic relationship between computation and human creativity.
https://www.ted.com/talks/shyam_sankar_the_rise_of_human_computer_cooperation

Kwabena Boahen: A computer that works like the brain

Researcher Kwabena Boahen is looking for ways to mimic the brain's supercomputing powers in silicon -- because the messy, redundant processes inside our heads actually make for a small, light, superfast computer.
https://www.ted.com/talks/kwabena_boahen_a_computer_that_works_like_the_brain

Fei-Fei Li: How we're teaching computers to understand pictures

When a very young child looks at a picture, she can identify simple elements: "cat," "book," "chair." Now, computers are getting smart enough to do that too. What's next? In a thrilling talk, computer vision expert Fei-Fei Li describes the state of the art -- including the database of 15 million photos her team built to "teach" a computer to un...
https://www.ted.com/talks/fei_fei_li_how_we_re_teaching_computers_to_understand_pictures

Ivan Poupyrev: Everything around you can become a computer

Designer Ivan Poupyrev wants to integrate technology into everyday objects to make them more useful and fun -- like a jacket you can use to answer phone calls or a houseplant you can play like a keyboard. In a talk and tech demo, he lays out his vision for a physical world that's more deeply connected to the internet and shows how, with a little...
https://www.ted.com/talks/ivan_poupyrev_everything_around_you_can_become_a_computer

Playlist: Wacky, weird art made by AI (4 talks)

Welcome to the new frontier in art and creativity -- and it's not human.
Curated by TED · 4 talks
http://www.ted.com/playlists/wacky_weird_art_made_by_ai

Joseph Redmon: How computers learn to recognize objects instantly

Ten years ago, researchers thought that getting a computer to tell the difference between a cat and a dog would be almost impossible. Today, computer vision systems do it with greater than 99 percent accuracy. How? Joseph Redmon works on the YOLO (You Only Look Once) system, an open-source method of object detection that can identify objects in ...
https://www.ted.com/talks/joseph_redmon_how_computers_learn_to_recognize_objects_instantly

Jinha Lee: Reach into the computer and grab a pixel

The border between our physical world and the digital information surrounding us has been getting thinner and thinner. Designer and engineer Jinha Lee wants to dissolve it altogether. As he demonstrates in this short, gasp-inducing talk, his ideas include a pen that penetrates into a screen to draw 3D models and SpaceTop, a computer desktop prot...
https://www.ted.com/talks/jinha_lee_reach_into_the_computer_and_grab_a_pixel

Greg Gage: This computer is learning to read your mind

Modern technology lets neuroscientists peer into the human brain, but can it also read minds? Armed with the device known as an electroencephalogram, or EEG, and some computing wizardry, our intrepid neuroscientists attempt to peer into a subject's thoughts.
https://www.ted.com/talks/greg_gage_this_computer_is_learning_to_read_your_mind

Karl Skjonnemand: The self-assembling computer chips of the future

The transistors that power the phone in your pocket are unimaginably small: you can fit more than 3,000 of them across the width of a human hair. But to keep up with innovations in fields like facial recognition and augmented reality, we need to pack even more computing power into our computer chips -- and we're running out of space. In this for...
https://www.ted.com/talks/karl_skjonnemand_the_self_assembling_computer_chips_of_the_future

Conrad Wolfram: Teaching kids real math with computers

From rockets to stock markets, many of humanity's most thrilling creations are powered by math. So why do kids lose interest in it? Conrad Wolfram says the part of math we teach -- calculation by hand -- isn't just tedious, it's mostly irrelevant to real mathematics and the real world. He presents his radical idea: teaching kids math through com...
https://www.ted.com/talks/conrad_wolfram_teaching_kids_real_math_with_computers

Matt Langione: The promise of quantum computers

What if tiny microparticles could help us solve the world's biggest problems in a matter of minutes? That's the promise -- and magic -- of quantum computers, says Matt Langione. Speaking next to an actual IBM quantum computer, he explains how these machines solve complex challenges like developing vaccines and calculating financial risk in an en...
https://www.ted.com/talks/matt_langione_the_promise_of_quantum_computers

Playlist: MOOCs 101 (7 talks)

Here's what can happen when we bring education online ... and open it up to anyone.
Curated by TED · 7 talks
http://www.ted.com/playlists/moocs_101

Tom Griffiths: 3 ways to make better decisions -- by thinking like a computer

If you ever struggle to make decisions, here's a talk for you. Cognitive scientist Tom Griffiths shows how we can apply the logic of computers to untangle tricky human problems, sharing three practical strategies for making better decisions -- on everything from finding a home to choosing which restaurant to go to tonight.
https://www.ted.com/talks/tom_griffiths_3_ways_to_make_better_decisions_by_thinking_like_a_computer

Paul Debevec: Animating a photo-real digital face

Computer graphics trailblazer Paul Debevec explains the scene-stealing technology behind Digital Emily, a digitally constructed human face so realistic it stands up to multiple takes.
https://www.ted.com/talks/paul_debevec_animating_a_photo_real_digital_face

Playlist: Talks to watch when you have a big decision to make (5 talks)

For when you need to stop biting your nails and just pick a direction.
Curated by TED · 5 talks
http://www.ted.com/playlists/talks_to_watch_when_you_have_a

Linda Liukas: A delightful way to teach kids about computers

Computer code is the next universal language, and its syntax will be limited only by the imaginations of the next generation of programmers. Linda Liukas is helping to educate problem-solving kids, encouraging them to see computers not as mechanical, boring and complicated but as colorful, expressive machines meant to be tinkered with. In this t...
https://www.ted.com/talks/linda_liukas_a_delightful_way_to_teach_kids_about_computers

Jeremy Howard: The wonderful and terrifying implications of computers that can learn

What happens when we teach a computer how to learn? Technologist Jeremy Howard shares some surprising new developments in the fast-moving field of deep learning, a technique that can give computers the ability to learn Chinese, or to recognize objects in photos, or to help think through a medical diagnosis. (One deep learning tool, after watchin...
https://www.ted.com/talks/jeremy_howard_the_wonderful_and_terrifying_implications_of_computers_that_can_learn

Daniel Garrie: Defining cyberwarfare... in hopes of preventing it

Can you imagine a future where wars are fought not with bombs and bullets but computer viruses and pacemaker shutdowns? Cyberware is unique in that it is not covered by existing legal framework and it often inspires more questions than we are yet capable of answering. Daniel Garrie ponders some of the practical and ethical dilemmas that may pop ...
https://www.ted.com/talks/daniel_garrie_defining_cyberwarfare_in_hopes_of_preventing_it

John Graham-Cumming: The greatest machine that never was

Computer science began in the '30s ... the 1830s. John Graham-Cumming tells the story of Charles Babbage's mechanical, steam-powered "analytical engine" and how Ada Lovelace, mathematician and daughter of Lord Byron, saw beyond its simple computational abilities to imagine the future of computers.
https://www.ted.com/talks/john_graham_cumming_the_greatest_machine_that_never_was

Massimo Banzi | TED Speaker

Massimo Banzi co-founded Arduino, which makes affordable open-source microcontrollers for interactive projects, from art installations to an automatic plant waterer.
Physical Computing Guru
https://www.ted.com/speakers/massimo_banzi

Nick Bostrom: What happens when our computers get smarter than we are?

Artificial intelligence is getting smarter by leaps and bounds -- within this century, research suggests, a computer AI could be as "smart" as a human being. And then, says Nick Bostrom, it will overtake us: "Machine intelligence is the last invention that humanity will ever need to make." A philosopher and technologist, Bostrom asks us to think...
https://www.ted.com/talks/nick_bostrom_what_happens_when_our_computers_get_smarter_than_we_are

John Underkoffler: Pointing to the future of UI

Minority Report science adviser and inventor John Underkoffler demos g-speak -- the real-life version of the film's eye-popping, tai chi-meets-cyberspace computer interface. Is this how tomorrow's computers will be controlled?
https://www.ted.com/talks/john_underkoffler_pointing_to_the_future_of_ui
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