I visited LA for NIPS 2017, one of the top three AI conferences.
1.1 In one workshop, Feifei Li told people it’s more harmful to be lonely than be smoking and therefore “it’s better off to smoke with friends…”
1.2 In one workshop concerning healcare, one speaker said, “I am at the age that people would normally collecting ICD9 code…” (ICD9 code is the hospital code system for different diseases.)
1.3 After the conference I took a shuttle to the airport. The driver asked people which airline we were taking, so that she can figure out which terminal to stop. One lady told the driver like, “I am planning to take a cab at the airport…” Visit the airport to catch a cab? Totally makes sense…
2. We were having lunch and someone mis-pronounce Suzy’s name as Sushi… And I was like, “Someone needs to be named Woshabi..”
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At the reception of NIPS, Michael Jordan, a legendary AI pioneer and Berkeley U Professor (center) and his band “The Imposteriors” gave an awesome gig. All the band members are researchers, lectures or professors in statistics. So cool!!