The 2025 Expanding Horizons in Computing conference spanned four days, January 28-31, and included a dynamic fusion of knowledge and discovery building on last year’s inaugural series. Four sessions delved into key topics in computing — deep learning, societal impact, crypto security, and quantum — while examining the opportunities and challenges these advancements present.
This event was hosted by the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing.
January 28, 2025
Deep Learning Day
Deep Learning Day discussed deep learning, computer vision, and natural language processing, focusing on recent advances and what might come next.
Introduction | Phillip Isola, Associate Professor, MIT EECS
Generative Modeling | Kaiming He, Associate Professor, MIT EECS
Agents | Antonio Torralba, Faculty Head of Artificial Intelligence and Decision-Making, EECS; Delta Electronics Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, MIT
Reasoning | Phillip Isola, Associate Professor, MIT EECS
January 29, 2025
Social and Ethical Responsibilities of Computing Day
Social and Ethical Responsibilities of Computing (SERC) Day provided a deeper understanding of the ways in which advancements in computing has impacted society.
Tutorial on the Future of Work | Michal Masny, Postdoctoral Associate, Department of Linguistics and Philosophy and SERC & Kadeem Noray, Postdoctoral Scholar, Department of Economics and Blueprint Labs
Generative AI and Copyright Part 1 | Umair Kazi, Director of Policy and Advocacy, The Authors Guild
Generative AI and Copyright Part 2 | Christopher Capozzola, Senior Associate Dean for Open Learning; Professor of History & Claire Superfine Schneider, Counsel, MIT Office of the General Counsel
January 30, 2025
Cryptography & Security Day
Cryptography & Security Day provided exposure to current developments in the fields of applied and theoretical cryptography and computer security.
Designing Hardware for Cryptography and Cryptography for Hardware | Srini Devadas, Edwin Sibley Webster Professor, MIT EECS
Multicalibration: a New Tool for Security Proofs in Cryptography | Salil Vadhan, Vicky Joseph Professor of Computer Science and Applied Mathematics, Harvard
Edit Distance Robust Watermarking | Noah Golowich, MIT Student
Somewhat Homomorphic Encryption from Sparse LPN | Alexandra Henzinger, MIT Student
Factoring with a Quantum Computer: The State of the Art | Seyoon Ragavan, MIT Student
Cryptanalynomics | Nadia Heninger, Associate Professor of Computer Science and Engineering, UC San Diego
January 31, 2025
Quantum Computing Day
Quantum Computing Day explored the fundamentals and core principles of quantum computing, with a spotlight on quantum computing platforms and practical applications.
Introduction to Quantum Computing | Will Oliver, Henry Ellis Warren (1894) Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science; Professor of Physics, MIT
Quantum Algorithms | Aram Harrow, Professor of Physics, MIT
Integrated Photonics for Trapped Ions | Jelena Notaros, Assistant Professor, MIT EECS
Quantum Circuits | Kevin O’Brien, Associate Professor, MIT EECS
Explore
MIT researchers advance toward greater bandwidth, more energy-efficient communications
Elizabeth A. Thomson | Materials Research Laboratory
The FUTUR-IC research program integrates electronics and photonics in microchip systems.
Pablo Jarillo-Herrero wins Kavli Prize in Nanoscience
Julia C. Keller | School of Science
The MIT physicist shares the honor with two others for foundational research establishing the field of twistronics.
Photonics advance could enable compact, high-performance lidar sensors
Adam Zewe | MIT News
With a novel design, MIT researchers overcame a stubborn problem that has limited the effectiveness of chip-based systems for lidar.