Breadcrumbs

From Waikato to leading the world in Artificial General Intelligence

9 May 2018

Dr Shane Legg.

Dr Shane Legg started out with a Dick Smith’s computer for his 10th birthday, now he is at the forefront of a new computing revolution.

The co-founder of Google DeepMind graduated from the University of Waikato in 1996 with a Bachelor of Computing and Mathematical Sciences with honours. He has just been given a Distinguished Alumni Award, returning from London to his academic roots at Waikato for the honour. He says it was great to see some familiar faces from his student days, and also students who had travelled from his old high school, Rotorua Lakes, for the occasion.

It was as a student at Waikato that he first learned about machine learning, contributing code to the Java version of machine learning software which is still in use today - Weka. Now when he is speaking to new intakes of staff at DeepMind, he likes to ask: who does Weka? He says he is gratified to know there are always hands that go up, and it gives him great satisfaction to see it’s still being used after all these years.

During his career he has seen an incredible explosion in computing power, and profound changes which show no sign of slowing. At his award ceremony, Dr Legg highlighted the progress in machine learning, neuroscience and the rapid progress in computer software converging to support the future of AGI. One of DeepMind’s biggest breakthroughs was creating a system that could teach itself to play a range of computer games, and Dr Legg took many in the auditorium back in time with a Pacman visualisation of how the system adapted and became a superhuman at the classic game.

Dr Legg also leads DeepMind’s work on AI safety, which has included the development of a “big red button” to turn off machines when they start behaving in ways that humans don’t want them to.


Latest stories

Related stories

Nathan Bailey, inaugural recipient of the Tauranga Moana Futures Scholarship

Scholarship enables inaugural recipient to contribute to the redevelopment of Tauranga City

University of Waikato first-year Bachelor of Engineering student Nathan Bailey is the inaugural recipient of…

Should Artificial Intelligence make us reconceive what it means to be human?

Generative AIs are producing journalism, writing poems, and telling jokes. Sure, the op-eds, poetry, and…

madeleine-pierard

Philanthropically-funded role enables Music to grow

Thanks to a philanthropically-funded position, internaitonal opera singer Madeleine Pierard has been able to set…

Scholarship recipient

Ashleigh Ngow receives Dr Andrew Smith Medal for Academic Excellence

Protecting the environment has always been important to Maketū-raised Ashleigh Ngow who completed the Bachelor…

Huy Vu

Scholarship established to remember alumnus and colleague Huy Vu

A scholarship has been established at the University of Waikato to remember alumnus and highly…

New app allows easy identification of all NZ plants, animals and fungi

Imagine being able to readily identify every plant and bird in your garden, on a…

Madeleine Pierard

Inaugural recipients selected for Te Pae Kōkako

Six promising opera students have been selected for the University of Waikato’s immersive Master of…

University of Waikato researchers shape the future of Artificial Intelligence in New Zealand

University of Waikato researchers are using artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to tackle problems…

gavin-walsh

Scholarship helps recipient spark change for the environment

A donor-funded Master of Management Studies project at the University is set to contribute to…

neil-quigley-appeal-2022

University launches Annual Appeal for 2022

The 2022 Annual Appeal is focused on supporting student scholarships, nursing graduates, and opera.

craigs-IP-scholarship

New scholarship for women studying business

Leading investment specialists Craigs Investment Partners (Craigs) is committing to the next generation of women…

University of Waikato signs new joint programme with Hainan University

University of Waikato is pleased to announce a new agreement with Hainan University in China…