Keynote Speakers

Professor Peter Groumpos, Emeritus

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
University of Patras, Patra, Greece

PLENARY TALK

“The Cybernetic Artificial Intelligence -(CAI): A New Mathematical Theory for Modelling Complex Dynamical Systems”

Abstract: Modeling is a fundamental task that serves as the starting point for analyzing and studying any physical or human-made system, including complex dynamical systems (CDS). The study of CDS has become a challenging new approach to science over the last few decades, investigating how relationships between system components give rise to collective behaviors, and how the system interacts and forms relationships with its environment. Over the past 70-80 years, artificial intelligence has (AI) dominated all scientific fields, promising to solve all of society’s problems. Read More

Deep Learning (DL), (a subfield of AI), a type of machine learning that seeks to emulate the human brain while not necessarily matching its capabilities, has taken the industry by storm. However, a subset of DL called Cybernetics has largely gone unstudied by most researchers on AI. In his essay, Carlos E. Perez [1] argues that the foundations of DL can be traced back not only to McCulloch–Pitts’ model of the artificial neuron but also to the work of Norbert Wiener, who wrote the book “Cybernetics: Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine” [2]. The essay further asserts that DL researchers continue to “reinvent the wheel” but are losing sight of the wisdom found in Cybernetics [3].

Cybernetics is defined as the scientific study of communication and control. With the core concept of circular causality or feedback, it attempts to compare human and animal brains with that of machines and electronic devices. If that sounds familiar, it is because DL seeks to achieve a similar result. Perez [1] argues that the DL narrative, which became popular in 2012, has now become the dominant narrative. Some scientists believe that DL is trying to replace AI. Perez also states that this narrative hearkens back to the time when Wiener published Cybernetics in 1948, examining connectionist thinking [2]

It is a commonly overlooked fact that the adoption of the term “Artificial Intelligence” remains largely unexplored. Prior to the establishment of AI in 1956 at Dartmouth College, three scientific names for the field of “thinking machines” existed: cybernetics, automata theory, and complex information processing. While cybernetics has been investigated and well known, the other two names were scientifically developed, analyzed, and defined long before AI. Binary logic is the foundation of both Cybernetics and AI, and both rely on the same principle for the results they produce. However, AI is culture-specific while the logical part is universal.

The 1956 Dartmouth Workshop was organized by Marvin Minsky, John McCarthy, Claude Shannon, and Nathan Rochester of IBM. At the conference, McCarthy persuaded attendees to accept “Artificial Intelligence” as the name of the field. The term was chosen to avoid associations with cybernetics and the influential cyberneticist Norbert Wiener. However, many scientists were aware of the important scientific contributions of cybernetics and intentionally chose the term AI. It is astonishing that Wiener was not invited to the 1956 Dartmouth conference. Cybernetics has often been overshadowed by AI in recent decades, but it has been returning to the public conscience and is being used in multiple fields. Cybernetics is an interdisciplinary science that focuses on how a system processes information, responds to it and changes, develops control actions, or restructures the whole system for better functioning. It is a general theory of information processing, feedback control, and decision making. Today, cybernetics is more relevant than ever before, as it studies mainly the concepts of control and communication in living organisms, machines, and organizations, including self-organization.

In this plenary talk both scientific fields of AI and Cybernetics will be reviewed. Their basic characteristics will be identified. Recently scientists and mathematicians began to think in innovative ways to make machines smarter and more intelligent and approach the human’s intelligent capabilities. AI and Cybernetics are the perfect examples of this human-machine merger. Binary logic is the main and same principle in both fields. Both terms are often used interchangeably. However, this brings confusion when both terms are studied. But they are slightly different; AI is based on the view that machines can act and behave like humans. Cybernetics is based on a cognitive view of the world. Further studies on this scientific aspect between AI and Cybernetics will clarify several scientific differences between them. A more appropriate term for modelling and controlling dynamical complex systems should be Cybernetic Artificial Intelligence (CAI). Such a new scientific field would successfully combine human intelligence (Cybernetics) with “machines” (AI) in a relatively meaningful and healthy merger.

Carlos E. Perez, The Deep Learning AI Playbook: Strategy for Disruptive Artificial Intelligence 1st Edition, October 2017.
Norbert Wiener, Cybernetics: Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine. Oxford University Press, 1948.
Peter P. Groumpos, “Making the World a Better Place to Live through Wisdom and Philosophy” Elsevier Journal, IFAC-PapersOnLine Vol. 51, Issue 30, pp. 744-749, 2018.

Short bio: Prof. Peter P. Groumpos is an emeritus professor since 2017 at the department of Electrical and Computer Engineering of the University of Patras. He was born in Greece in1950 at the small town of Xylocastron, Corinthia. At the age of 18 years old, he went to USA with the primary goal to do his university studies. He did his undergraduate and graduate studies at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the SUNYAB. He received his Ph.D. in 1978. He joined as an Assistant Professor, Cleveland State University, Ohio in 1980 and he was promoted to Associate professor in 1985. He was Vice President of the Advanced Manufacturing Center of Cleveland, Ohio (1983-1988). In 1990, he returned to his motherland Greece, been elected as a full Professor at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering of the University of Patras. Read More

In 1992 he established the Laboratory for Automation and Robotics to which has been its director till he retired in 2017. A Fulbright Scholar one year award by the State Department of USA. Chairman of the Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Patras (1999-2003). Academic Honorary Member of the Russian Academic Council of Mechatronics and Robotics 2002-2011 and Honorary Invited Professor of the University of Science and Technology of the Eastern China of Shanghai 2013-2017. President & CEO, Patras Science Park, Patras, Greece (2004–2010). Vice-President of the Technical Advisory Board, National Institute for Research, Greece, 2005-2010.The Greek National representative to a few high positions at European Management Committees (ESPRIT, ICT, IMS, INCO). Included in a) Who’s Who in Frontiers of Science and Technology and b) Men of Achievement. General Chairman of IFAC Conferences, LSS ’98 and MIM 2000, and of the IEEE Conferences, ISIC 2000 and MED 1994, 2000 and 2016.Chairman of the TC 9.5 of Large-Scale Systems of IFAC (1996-2001).

He has been teaching undergraduate and graduate courses in the thematic areas of automatic control, stochastic processes, intelligent control, Fuzzy systems, Robotics, modeling Complex Dynamic Systems and Bioinformatics. His research interests cover the broad thematic areas of modeling and control of large Complex Dynamic Systems, Intelligent control, Artificial Intelligence (AI), fuzzy systems, Fuzzy Cognitive Maps, Hybrid Energy Systems (HES), Intelligent Manufacturing systems, Renewable, Decision Support Systems (DSS), Knowledge Management, Creative software Computing, Simulation Methods, Technology Transfer and Innovation Systems.

He has conducted funded research using advanced new intelligent and fuzzy techniques in many

applications especially in Manufacturing, Health, Energy, Environment, Agriculture and Transportation. He

has been the principal investigator and/or participated as a partner in many R&D projects been funded by the

EC, the Greek Government and/or the private sector. He has published four (4) books, edited seven (7) books,

14 invited chapters in books, over 320 papers in journals and/or in international conferences, and over 50 Technical Reports. He has more than 7000 citations and an h-index of 39. For two consecutive years, 2020 and 2021, he has been ranked internationally among the world’s top scientists in Artificial Intelligence, ranking him in the top 2% of the most influential scientists, according to the published PLOS Biology 2020 & Mendeley Data 2020 lists and the Stanford University study “Updated science-wide author databases of standardized citation indicators”.

Prof. Groumpos has been the Reviewer for several International Journals and for many International

Conferences. Has organized more than 20 invited special sessions on Conferences and has been Keynote

Plenary Invited Speaker in more than 30 International conferences.

Ioannis Stamelos,

Professor and Head, School of Informatics, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece

“Open Source Software Policies and New Research Directives: Recent Advances”

Abstract: The first part of the speech will present some basic concepts on open source software (OSS) and recent developments on open source policies worldwide. There is increasing interest in OSS both from the public and private sector point of view, while related policies are continuously updated and enhanced
in favor of OSS. A major driver that haw emerged in recent years is the need for OSPOs, Open Source Program Offices. OSPOs are dedicated units within large organizations (public institutions, large enterprises) that offer consultancy on OSS adoption practices and community building, along with high level technical support.

The second part will be dedicated to research directions, in order to meet the requirements of the new OSS policies and advance the state of the art in OSS engineering. Among other, OSS ecosystem analysis, OSS best practices, and OSS education are research areas of paramount importance.

Short bio:
Ioannis Stamelos is a Professor at the School of Informatics of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece, where he carries out research and teaching in the area of Software Engineering and Information Systems. He holds a diploma of Electrical Engineering (1983) and a PhD in Computer Science by the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (1988). He has published approx. 250 articles in refereed international journals, conferences, etc. He is/was the scientific coordinator or principal investigator for his University in over 30 research and development projects in Information & Communication Technologies with funding from national and international organizations. Part of his research is in the field of open source software engineering.

He is currently the Head of the School of Informatics, he is directing the Center for Open Technologies at the Aristotle University and is also President of the Board of Directors of the Hellenic Alliance for Open Technologies (GFOSS).

Eleni Stroulia,

Professor in the Department of Computing Science, at the University of Alberta, Canada

“Games for Cognitive Health and Improved Mobility”

Abstract: Mobility and cognition decline with illness and age. My team has been pursuing two parallel projects to investigate how games can offer an engaging method for older adults to exercise their cognitive and physical abilities. Specifically, the first project, called ”VibrantMinds”, offers a number of well-known entertaining games that challenge the user’s perception, attention, language, and memory. The second project, called ”VirtualGym”, is a 2D and an immersive VR exergames platform, offering exercise routines adjustable to the user’s mobility and, at the same time, challenging. In this presentation, we discuss the two systems, the key premises underlying their design, and some initial findings from our studies

Short bio:
Dr. Eleni Stroulia is a Professor in the Department of Computing Science, at the University of Alberta. From 2011-2016, she held the NSERC/AITF Industrial Research Chair on Service Systems Management, with IBM. Her research focuses on addressing industry-driven problems and interdisciplinary challenges, using AI and machine-learning methods. She has played leadership roles in the GRAND and AGE-WELL Networks of Centres of Excellence. In 2018 she received a McCalla professorship, and in 2019 she was recognized with a Killam Award for Excellence in Mentoring. From 2020 to 2023, she was the Director of the University of Alberta’s AI4Society Signature Area, and since 2021 she is serving as the Vice Dean of the Faculty of Science.