[AI Seminar Series] Seminar by Prof. Francesco Bullo (UC Santa Barbara), THURSDAY Feb.26th, 11am-12pm, WCH 205-206

[Vassilis Tsotras]

The next AI Seminar will be on THURSDAY February 26th, 11am-12pm at the
Winston Chung Hall (WCH) 205-206.
PLEASE NOTE the change in day, time and place (just for this seminar).

*** Pizza and refreshments will be provided ****

To keep track of the number of attendees, please *register* at:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ai-seminar-series-tickets-1983726471276

The talk will be given by *Prof. Francesco Bullo*, Distinguished Professor,
Department of Mechanical Engineering, UC Santa Barbara

This talk is in collaboration with the Department of Mechanical Engineering

TITLE: Biologically Plausible Computing: Navigating Energy Landscapes

ABSTRACT:
Deep learning models, despite their power, lag behind the biological brain
in interpretability, energy efficiency, and physical plausibility. This
presentation explores the mathematical design principles of biological
neural circuits -- building upon the classic concept that neural activity
is fundamentally driven by cost minimization and energy landscapes.

We demonstrate a direct mathematical equivalence between the firing
dynamics of recurrent neural networks and "proximal gradient descent, "a
novel dynamical system used to solve optimization problems. This framework
provides a top-down explanation for how biological networks process
information, illustrated through examples such as sparse signal
reconstruction in the visual cortex and decision-making via the free energy
principle. Finally, we extend these concepts to complex
excitatory-inhibitory circuits, modeling neurons as players in a
mathematical game. We conclude by briefly discussing how these biological
insights can inspire next-generation analog and neuromorphic computing.


Bio:
Francesco Bullo is a Distinguished Professor and Mosher Chair of Mechanical
Engineering at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He was
previously with the University of Padova (Laurea degree, Italy), the
California Institute of Technology (Ph.D. degree), and the University of
Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His research interests include contraction
theory, mathematical neuroscience, and neural networks. He is the author or
coauthor of Geometric Control of Mechanical Systems (Springer, 2004),
Distributed Control of Robotic Networks (Princeton, 2009), Lectures on
Network Systems (KDP, 2024), and Contraction Theory for Dynamical Systems
(KDP, 2026). He served as IEEE CSS President and SIAG CST Chair. He is a
Fellow of ASME, IEEE, IFAC, NetSci, and SIAM.

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Sponsored by the RAISE at UCR Institute, the AI Seminar Series presents
speakers working on cutting edge Foundational AI or applying AI in their
research. The goal of these seminars is to inform the UCR community about
current trends in AI research and promote collaborations between faculty in
this emerging field. These seminars are open to interested faculty and
graduate/undergraduate students. Please forward this email to other
colleagues or students in your lab that may be interested. After the seminar a
discussion will follow for questions, open problems, ideas for possible
collaborations etc.

Sincerely,
Vassilis Tsotras
Professor, CSE Department
co-Director, RAISE at UCR Institute

Amit Roy-Chowdhury
Professor, ECE Department
co-Director, RAISE at UCR Institute
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