Columbia Public Night
Amanda Quirk
Join us in Pupin Hall at Columbia on Friday November 14 at 7pm in Pupin 301 for a talk by Dr. Kartheik Iyer on galaxies in the time of AI and big data. (Poster attached)
Title: How Do You Read a Million Papers About a Billion-Year-Old Galaxy?
Abstract: “JWST has revealed stunning early galaxies that are reshaping and refining our understanding of how the earliest galaxies and black holes formed, but how do astronomers keep up with a body of literature that is growing at an ever-accelerating rate? I will talk about how discoveries like the Sparkler and Firefly Sparkle galaxies (among a plethora of results from the first few years of JWST, with even more expected with Rubin, Roman and Euclid) are shaping our understanding of early cosmic history, and how the explosion of astronomical literature led to building Pathfinder, a LLM-powered system that helps students and astronomers alike navigate the academic literature without getting lost in information overload. But this isn't just about faster literature searches. As AI rapidly advances, we'll explore what it means to build transparent, interpretable tools that show their work, turning the "black box" into a window. From embedding spaces to the ethics of AI in science, we will briefly consider the potential of astronomical datasets and literature as a testing ground for responsible AI development. Whether you're curious about distant galaxies, worried about AI hype, or just love space, this talk likely has something for you!”
We'll start the evening at 7pm with some astronomy trivia, followed by Kartheik's talk and Q&A. From 8:10-9:10pm, we will be outside observing on campus (weather permitting).