Uploaded October 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 days ago
The Wheeler Lecture is our annual distinguished lecture. In October 2025, our speaker was Moshe Y. Vardi, the George Distinguished Service Professor in Computational Engineering at Rice University, where he is leading an Initiative on Technology, Culture, and Society.
Abstract: "In both computer science and economics, efficiency is a cherished property. The field of algorithms is almost solely focused on their efficiency. The goal of AI research is to increase efficiency by reducing human labor. In economics, the main advantage of the free market is that it promises 'economic efficiency'. A major lesson from many recent disasters is that both fields have over-emphasized efficiency and under-emphasized resilience. I argue that resilience is a more important property than efficiency and discuss how the two fields can broaden their focus to make resilience a primary consideration. I will conclude by raising serious questions on the goal of the AI research program."
The Wheeler Lecture is our annual distinguished lecture. In October 2025, our speaker was Moshe Y. Vardi, the George Distinguished Service Professor in Computational Engineering at Rice University, where he is leading an Initiative on Technology, Culture, and Society.
Abstract: "In both computer science and economics, efficiency is a cherished property. The field of algorithms is almost solely focused on their efficiency. The goal of AI research is to increase efficiency by reducing human labor. In economics, the main advantage of the free market is that it promises 'economic efficiency'. A major lesson from many recent disasters is that both fields have over-emphasized efficiency and under-emphasized resilience. I argue that resilience is a more important property than efficiency and discuss how the two fields can broaden their focus to make resilience a primary consideration. I will conclude by raising serious questions on the goal of the AI research program."
