| Transforming Astronomical Discovery with AI: Challenges and Opportunities in the Age of Big Data |
| Cecilia Garraffo, Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian |
| Event Type: Physics Dept Colloquium |
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| Time: 4:00 PM - 5:30 PM |
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| Location: 726 Broadway, 940, CCPP Seminar |
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| Abstract: Astronomy is on the brink of a data revolution driven by next-generation observatories like the Vera C. Rubin Observatory and NASA's Roman Space Telescope. Traditional data analysis techniques will fall short in processing this influx of petabytes of multivariate, heteroscedastic, and sparsely sampled data. Artificial Intelligence (AI) offers a new path for extracting information from large datasets. However, the application of AI to astronomy is not straightforward. Existing AI methods, primarily designed for more structured datasets, must be adapted to the unique challenges of astronomical data, particularly in ensuring that AI-driven models produce physically meaningful results. In this talk, I will discuss the need for developing AI specifically for astronomy and outline the interdisciplinary efforts required to create robust, domain-specific tools. |