Are large language models really sentient or conscious? What is explainability (XAI) and how can we create human-aware AI systems for collaborative tasks? Dr. Subbarao Kambhampati sheds some light on these topics, generating explanations for human-in-loop AI systems and understanding 'intelligence' in context to AI systems. He is a Prof of Computer Science at Arizona State University and director of the Yochan lab at ASU where his research focuses on decision-making and planning specifically in the context of human-aware AI systems. He has received multiple awards for his research contributions. He has also been named a fellow of AAAI, AAAS, and ACM and also a distinguished alumnus from the University of Maryland and also recently IIT Madras.

Time stamps of conversations:
00:00:40 Introduction
00:01:32 What got you interested in AI?
00:07:40 Definition of intelligence that is not related to human intelligence
00:13:40 Sentience vs intelligence in modern AI systems
00:24:06 Human aware AI systems for better collaboration
00:31:25 Modern AI becoming natural science instead of an engineering task
00:37:35 Understanding symbolic concepts to generate accurate explanations
00:56:45 Need for explainability and where
01:13:00 What motivates you for research, the application associated or theoretical pursuit?
01:18:47 Research in academia vs industry
01:24:38 DALL-E performance and critiques
01:45:40 What makes for a good research thesis? 
01:59:06 Different trajectories of a good CS PhD student
02:03:42 Focusing on measures vs metrics 
02:15:23 Advice to students on getting started with AI

Articles referred in the conversation
AI as Natural Science?: https://cacm.acm.org/blogs/blog-cacm/261732-ai-as-an-ersatz-natural-science/fulltext
Polanyi's Revenge and AI's New Romance with Tacit Knowledge: https://cacm.acm.org/magazines/2021/2/250077-polanyis-revenge-and-ais-new-romance-with-tacit-knowledge/fulltext

More about Prof. Rao
Homepage: https://rakaposhi.eas.asu.edu/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/rao2z

About the Host:
Jay is a PhD student at Arizona State University.
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shahjay22/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/jaygshah22
Homepage: https://www.public.asu.edu/~jgshah1/ for any queries.

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